Discovery

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In 2010, while returning to the port of Quequén in the coastal town of Necochea, about 400 miles south of Buenos Aires, commercial fisherman Captain Enrique Silva, nicknamed "Petete," noticed an anomaly on his fishing echosounder. 

In a region where the seabed is typically flat and sandy, an uncharted underwater structure emerged. This feature rose abruptly 4 meters from the ocean floor, extended for an additional 4 meters, and then descended sharply back down 4 meters to the seabed. Petete returned to investigate the structure, lowering a fishing line into the depths. He managed to hook a fish that sought shelter within the structure and snapped the line. Upon retrieving the lead weight, he observed rust flakes on it, indicating that the structure was composed of iron, not natural rock.

Fast forward to early 2021, Petete agreed to guide our team to the wreck site, equipped with a basic JW Fishers 100khz side-scan sonar. On March 4, 2021, we managed to capture an elementary sonar image of the wreck that Petete had discovered and informed the Argentine Naval Prefecture. The vessel measured close to 80 meters in length and 6.94 meters in width, resting at a depth of 28 meters. 

Identification

After reporting the wreck to the authorities, the Argentine Naval Prefecture was required by law to survey the site. The Prefecture carried out an operation with the salvage vessel PNA SB 15 “Tango”, supported by 12 deep-sea divers and an ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle). After eight hours of filming, the team confirmed “remains of a shipwreck with structures apparently made of iron, joined by electric welding, scattered over an approximate area of 80 meters long and 10 meters wide, in an advanced state of corrosion and burial,” as they wrote in their technical report. 

However, the Prefecture did not determine in its report what type of vessel it was, since, due to the state of destruction, it was not possible to ascertain whether it was a ship or a submarine. 

A preliminary examination of the sonar image and the footage and photos obtained during the Argentine Naval Prefecture mission suggests that the object is not a surface ship and could potentially be a scuttled German U-Boat. However, definitive confirmation requires a thorough on-site examination.

To date the Necochea wreck remains an abandoned ‘phantom’ vessel. Official data is non-existent and the ship's history, route, arrival time, cargo, crew, and passengers are as yet unknown. It is remarkable that despite being situated in such proximity to one of the country's most important ports and at such shallow depths, no records exist.