On 30 November, 15 days after San Juan went missing, the Navy declared that the rescue phase of the operation was over, and the search for the submarine on the seabed would be continuing. The loss of 44 crewmen constituted the largest loss of life aboard a submarine since the malfunctioned in April 2003, until being surpassed by the loss of 53 crewmen aboard the Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala in April 2021. A criminal investigation was launched into the disappearance.
