US seabed survey company Ocean Infinity has detected an object of the size of Argentina’s San Juan submarine, which went missing last November, Argentine Defense Minister Oscar Aguad said on Friday.

"As captain of an Ocean Infinity ship told us, [they received a signal] resembling an object comparable with the submarine in terms of size," he said in a Todo Noticias TV channel broadcast.

The minister said the "important signal" was recorded at the depth of 280 meters.

"It is surprising that the object wasn’t discovered before," he said.

Communication with the San-Jose diesel-electric submarine with 44 crew members on board was lost on 15 November 2017 during passage from the Ushuaia Mar del Plata naval base. Water penetrated the accumulator section in the nose part, which triggered fire. The captain had time to report the accident to headquarters, following which the submarine lost communication. The monitoring systems registered a powerful underwater explosion in that area. On November 30, the Argentine Navy announced an end to its operation to save the crew, but the search for the submarine still continues.

The Argentinean Navy Command turned to other countries for help. Among those who responded were Russian sailors. The vessel Yantar, that was at the coast of Western Africa, was urgently sent to the distress area. It had operated in Southern Atlantic longer than its counterparts, from December 6, 2017 till April 1, 2018. The Yantar returned safely to Severomorsk only in early June.

Since September, the search was conducted by private US seabed survey company, Ocean Infinity, hired by the Argentine government.