US Navy’s CURV-21 and Russian Yantar Vessel Join ARA San Juan Search

U.S. Navy has directed Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) to deploy the cable operated unmanned recovery vehicle (CURV) 21 to join the search efforts for the missing Argentine submarine ARA San Juan.

The search effort, which began on November 15, when the submarine went missing, recently shifted focus to undersea assets capable of deep seafloor searches.

The CURV-21 arrived in Argentina in an Air Force C-5 on Friday, December 01, 2017.

CURV-21 is a 6,400-pound remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with continuous transmission frequency modulation (CTFM) sonar for target detection and a high-resolution digital still camera, black and white, and color television camera.

In addition to CURV-21, Russian oceanographic research ship Yantar will join the search along with the U.S. Atlantis research vessel. The vessels are equipped with deep submergence vehicles that allow them to examine undersea areas nearly 6,000 meters deep.