German firms investigated over faulty batteries link to missing Argentine submarine

Argentine parliamentarians are reportedly investigating two German firms over the replacement of batteries on the missing submarine ARA San Juan, alleging bribes were paid to secure contracts and inferior products used.

The German Interior Ministry has received a request for information from the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Argentine parliament, officials confirmed to public broadcaster Bayerische Rundfunk (BR).

"The suspicion exists that the batteries that were replaced were not, in part or at all, of the quality that they should have been. We don't know either where they came from, whether from Germany or from another country. Because of this we want to know what technicians were there and who signed saying: good, this is repaired," Cornelia Schmidt-Liermann, head of the Argentine parliamentary commission, said according to the network.

She said it was believed that bribes may have been paid to secure contracts for the renovation, and that "German companies were involved".

The two firms from which the commission has requested information - Ferrostaal and EnerSys-Hawker - signed a contract for €5.1 million ($9m) to replace 964 batteries on the German-built sub, BR reported.

Ferrostaal has denied any responsibility, saying its role was only to mediate in the contract, for which it received a commission. EnerSys-Hawker has not yet responded publicly.

Questions have been mounting in Argentina over the state of the batteries on the ARA San Juan, of which there is still no trace almost a month after its November 15 disappearance.

The vessel had reported a fault with its batteries shortly before it lost contact and had been ordered to return to the Mar de Plata naval base. Three hours later, an "acoustic event" believed to be an underwater explosion was detected close to the sub's last known location.

The final communication from the ARA San Juan said an entry of seawater had caused a short-circuit in the batteries and "the beginnings of a fire".

Families of the 44 crew members and politicians have raised questions over the submarine's mid-life renovation, which was completed in 2014. One aspect under scrutiny is the decision to replace all internal elements of the batteries but retain the old casings.

The Argentine minister of defence, Oscar Aguad, last week Tuesday revealed "suspicions" that there had been corruption in the five-year renovation process, which took place under the previous government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

He told TV channel Todo Noticias there were a number of "anomalies" that indicated overcharging and the use of sub-standard products.

Aguad said a legal complaint had been filed in the past over alleged corruption in the refit, but that it was "swept under the rug" without ever being investigated.