Puricelli says Santísima Trinidad sinking, 'possible sabotage'

Defence Minister Arturo Puricelli said today that the sinking of the ARA Santísima Trinidad could have been a planned sabotage attack.

The minister spoke about the destroyer ship, which sank in Puerto Belgrano, and admitted that when Cristina Fernández de Kirchner asks him why the ship sank, his face drops with embarrassment.

“When the president asks me, she will witness my face drop when having to tell her that an anchored ship in a port, sank,” the Puricelli told radio reporters this morning.

Nonetheless, the official did point out that the ship was “out of service,” and was on its way to the scrap yard.

According to a report, the ship started to sink because of a broken pipe inside of a damaged compartment.

That said, Puricelli has ordered that the navy carry out a full investigation, in order to fully define the causes of the incident.

The ARA Santísima Trinidad has been out of service since 2004 and anchored in the central navy base close to the town of Bahía Blanca.