A blurry image taken by an unmanned Russian submersible raised hopes that it could be the Argentine submarine that went missing on 15 November with 44 crew members aboard.

The image was given “priority” for review on Saturday because it showed an object about 60m long located at 477m (1,565 feet) below sea level. The ARA San Juan is 66m long.

But after the image was “visually verified”, Argentina’s navy spokesman Enrique Balbi confirmed later on Saturday that it was not the submarine but instead a sunken fishing vessel.

Balbi said the search would continue to focus on other signals of interest detected in parts of the South Atlantic where the vessel was last heard from.

Argentina’s navy said on Thursday that it was no longer looking for survivors although a multinational operation will continue searching for the vessel.

“The extreme environment, the time elapsed and the lack of any evidence eliminates a scenario compatible with human life,” Balbi said. “These are hours of intense pain and anguish [for relatives] in light of the loss of their loved ones, our 44 comrades.”

The German-made submarine went missing as it was journeying from the southern port of Ushuaia to the city of Mar del Plata, about 400km south-east of Buenos Aires.

The navy has said the vessel’s captain reported that water entered the snorkel and caused one of the submarine’s batteries to short circuit. An explosion was later detected around the time and place where the San Juan last made contact.