Argentinian Defence Minister Oscar Aguad will face questions from a judge about the disappearance of the ARA San Juan, a submarine that likely exploded on November 15 with 44 crew on board.
Judge Marta Yanez, based in the city of Caleta Olivia in the judicial district where the submarine disappeared, wants to question Aguad as a witness, the newspaper El Cronista and the website Infobae report.
Yanez wants to hear whether the navy informed the government about the submarine's technical problems, which were reported three hours before it went missing.
The Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) last week reported an event consistent with an explosion along the submarine's route, 430 kilometres off the coast and 1,300 kilometres south of Buenos Aires.
The navy said on Monday that the ARA San Juan had reported an incipient fire after water entered through a ventilation system into its battery tank and caused a short-circuit.
The fire only created smoke, no flames, and was put out, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said.
The navy has downplayed a report by the newspaper La Nacion that there were irregularities in a battery purchase when the submarine, which started operating in 1985, was repaired between 2008 and 2014.
President Mauricio Macri's cabinet chief Marcos Pena said Tuesday that the navy "has been very professional and worked as a team with the government."
Pena did not expect "imminent" changes of army command staff. If such a move occurred, it would not be related to the ARA San Juan, Pena told reporters in Buenos Aires.
Balbi meanwhile said stormy weather was hampering the search for the submarine by about 12 countries using vessels and aircraft.
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