ADVERTISEMENTArgentina has sacked the head of its navy, a month after one of its submarines went missing in the South Atlantic with 44 crew members on board.
The removal of Admiral Marcelo Eduardo Hipolito Srur is the first known disciplinary action taken since contact was lost with the ARA San Juan on November 15.
Families of the missing crew have criticised the government for abandoning the rescue effort.
On Friday, some relatives held a rally in the port city of Mar del Plata calling on the authorities to reverse that decision.
Marcela Moyano, wife of Hernan Rodriguez, one of the missing sailors aboard the submarine said: "It is good for the soul to feel this kind of support from people and to know they're encouraging us to get to the truth and not stop the effort to find them."
While an international search for the missing submarine is still underway, Argentina abandoned any hope of finding the vessel late last month.
The navy said it tried to locate the sunken sub for double the amount of time it would have had oxygen.
On November 27 the navy said water had entered the submarine's snorkel causing the battery to short-circuit. International organisations are also said to have detected a noise that could have been the submarine's implosion the same day contact was lost.