Argentina has fired the head of its navy a month after a submarine disappeared in the South Atlantic with 44 crew members onboard, a government spokesman said.

Letting go of Navy Admiral Marcelo Eduardo Hipólito Srur was the first known disciplinary action taken by President Mauricio Macri’s administration since contact was lost with the ARA San Juan on November 15.

“It was decided to remove him,” a government spokesman said.

A black ribbon is placed over Argentine national flags and messages of support for the 44 crew members of the missing at sea ARA San Juan submarine, on a fence at an Argentine naval base in Mar del Plata, Argentina November 24, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

Families of the crew members criticized Macri’s government for not clearly communicating with them and for abandoning rescue efforts.

The navy said on November 27 that water that entered the submarine’s snorkel caused its battery to short-circuit before it went missing. The navy had previously said international organizations detected a noise that could have been the submarine’s implosion the same day contact was lost.

Hope of rescuing survivors was abandoned on November 30. The navy said it searched for double the amount of time the submarine would have had oxygen. An international search for the submarine is still underway.

Reuters