The navy was frantically trying to rescue more than 100 sailors trapped in a crippled nuclear-powered submarine on the bottom of the Barents Sea on Monday after its crew was forced to run it aground.
The navy said the submarine bore marks of a "big and serious collision" ? possibly with a foreign submarine.
Click here for the latest news on the submarine. U.S. officials said a U.S. Navy electronic surveillance ship was operating in the Barents Sea at the time, but they would not say whether a Navy submarine was in the area.
The navy's chief said he was pessimistic about the chances of a positive outcome to the incident in Arctic waters. He did not make clear whether he was referring to the fate of the crew or the submarine, which was commissioned just five years ago.
Naval sources gave conflicting accounts of whether any of the sailors had died or been injured when the crew of the Kursk submarine turned off the vessel?s reactor and let it drift to the bed of the sea Sunday.
Kursk Oscar-class submarine.
Weight: 13,900 tons.
Length: 154 meters.
Engines: 2 nuclear reactors.
Speed: 28 knots dived, 15 knots surfaced.
Crew: 107, including 48 officers.
Weapons: Up to 24 Chelomey SS-N-19 missiles with nuclear or conventional warheads. Torpedoes or anti-submarine Novator missiles with conventional or nuclear warheads.
Diving depth: 300 meters.
Launched: May 1994, commissioned for service Jan. 1995.
The Defense Ministry of Norway, which also borders the Barents, said the submarine was in international waters northeast of Murmansk at a depth of around 150 meters.
The first report of possible casualties came from Interfax, which quoted a source in the headquarters of the Northern Fleet as saying it was "not excluded" there were victims.
However, RIA news agency quoted the Northern Fleet press office as saying the crew was not in danger and the question of abandoning the stricken vessel had not been raised.
The navy said it had rushed rescue vessels to the scene of the accident amid fears the sailors? oxygen would run out. Itar-Tass quoted naval officials as saying 10 vessels were at the site, while Interfax quoted officials in the regional government of the northern port of Murmansk as saying a special rescue diving bell had already been lowered to the stricken vessel. Interfax said the bell was supplying the submarine with oxygen, fuel and air for its ballast chambers.
There was no radio contact with the submarine, a spokesman for naval headquarters in Moscow said Monday evening. However, he said, there was "acoustic contact" indicating people were still alive. Itar-Tass said that contact involved detecting people knocking on the inside of the sub?s hull.
The head of the navy, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, said the submarine, classed as Antei in Russia and Oscar-2 by NATO, looked as though it had suffered from some kind of collision.
"The situation is difficult," Tass quoted Kuroyedov as saying. "The chances for a positive outcome are not very high," he added without further clarification.
The accident happened when the Kursk was on major training exercises in the Barents Sea, which lies mostly in the Arctic Circle north of European Russia, on Sunday. It was not reported until early Monday.
"A spokesman for the navy?s general staff said that one of the possibilities was that the accident had been caused by collision with a foreign submarine," Itar-Tass reported.
"A source in the Northern Fleet command said he believed this was the key version. He did not rule out that the foreign submarine was also damaged and was now not far from the Kursk."
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said: "We have no indication that a U.S. vessel was involved in this accident." He would not say, however, whether a U.S. submarine was in the area at the time.
U.S. submarines normally monitor the movement of Russian submarines. It was even more likely in this case because of the size of the Russian naval exercise, which Pentagon officials described as the largest of the year.
Because of the major role submarines play in gathering foreign intelligence, the Navy usually is reluctant to discuss details of their movements.
Quigley said the U.S. military had not been asked to assist in a potential rescue of the Russian crew. It was not clear what assistance was possible, even if requested.
The U.S. Navy has a rescue vessel designed to bring the crew of a U.S. or allied submarine to safety, even at depths far beyond that where the disabled Russian submarine rested. But the U.S. vessel is believed to be incompatible with Russian submarines because of differences in the dimensions of hatch seals, officials said.
The U.S. vessel is designed for quick deployment in the event of a submarine accident. The rescue vessel is transportable by truck, aircraft, ship, or by a specially configured attack submarine.
It was not clear how many men were on board the Kursk. Interfax said it was carrying 107 people, including 52 officers. Itar-Tass said such a submarine could carry up to 130 men.
The navy denied a report by NTV television that the cause of the accident was flooding of the torpedo tubes and the front section of the submarine. NTV said a power shutdown might lead to problems with oxygen supplies.
Navy press office head Igor Degalo said the submarine, which can carry nuclear weapons, had none on board. Its nuclear reactor had been shut down and there were no radiation leaks.
However, Norway, which has long feared radioactive pollution from Russia, called a meeting of a crisis team for radioactive accidents to decide whether to take action. They decided to keep testing for any atomic leaks.
The Norwegian environmental group Bellona said on its web site (www.bellona.no) that rescue efforts could be hampered by the power shutdown.
It quoted former Russian naval officer Alexander Nikitin, who was recently cleared by a court of spying after contributing to a Bellona report, as saying if the submarine was at a depth of more than 100 meters it would be difficult to use the Kursk?s ballast tanks to refloat it.
The Kursk is one of the most modern submarines in Russia but Nikitin was quoted as saying that the Oscar-2 class did not have rescue capsules to take the crew to the surface and deep-going rescue submarines would have to be used.
Vladimir Gundarov, a submarine specialist at Red Star, the military?s official newspaper, said rescuing people from a submarine is very difficult and there is no set procedure. The Russian navy does not have advanced submarine rescue vessels, according to standard naval reference works.
"The situation is extremely negative," Gundarov said.
The crew may be able to use rescue capsules, but in a worst-case scenario would have to try escape by swimming out through the torpedo tubes, Gundarov said. "It is extremely risky, but they are all trained to do this," he said.
(Reuters, AP)
http://www.bellona.no/ The Bellona Foundation
The navy said the submarine bore marks of a "big and serious collision" ? possibly with a foreign submarine.
The navy's chief said he was pessimistic about the chances of a positive outcome to the incident in Arctic waters. He did not make clear whether he was referring to the fate of the crew or the submarine, which was commissioned just five years ago.
Naval sources gave conflicting accounts of whether any of the sailors had died or been injured when the crew of the Kursk submarine turned off the vessel?s reactor and let it drift to the bed of the sea Sunday.
Weight: 13,900 tons.
Length: 154 meters.
Engines: 2 nuclear reactors.
Speed: 28 knots dived, 15 knots surfaced.
Crew: 107, including 48 officers.
Weapons: Up to 24 Chelomey SS-N-19 missiles with nuclear or conventional warheads. Torpedoes or anti-submarine Novator missiles with conventional or nuclear warheads.
Diving depth: 300 meters.
Launched: May 1994, commissioned for service Jan. 1995.
The Defense Ministry of Norway, which also borders the Barents, said the submarine was in international waters northeast of Murmansk at a depth of around 150 meters.
The first report of possible casualties came from Interfax, which quoted a source in the headquarters of the Northern Fleet as saying it was "not excluded" there were victims.
However, RIA news agency quoted the Northern Fleet press office as saying the crew was not in danger and the question of abandoning the stricken vessel had not been raised.
The navy said it had rushed rescue vessels to the scene of the accident amid fears the sailors? oxygen would run out. Itar-Tass quoted naval officials as saying 10 vessels were at the site, while Interfax quoted officials in the regional government of the northern port of Murmansk as saying a special rescue diving bell had already been lowered to the stricken vessel. Interfax said the bell was supplying the submarine with oxygen, fuel and air for its ballast chambers.
There was no radio contact with the submarine, a spokesman for naval headquarters in Moscow said Monday evening. However, he said, there was "acoustic contact" indicating people were still alive. Itar-Tass said that contact involved detecting people knocking on the inside of the sub?s hull.
The head of the navy, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, said the submarine, classed as Antei in Russia and Oscar-2 by NATO, looked as though it had suffered from some kind of collision.
"The situation is difficult," Tass quoted Kuroyedov as saying. "The chances for a positive outcome are not very high," he added without further clarification.
The accident happened when the Kursk was on major training exercises in the Barents Sea, which lies mostly in the Arctic Circle north of European Russia, on Sunday. It was not reported until early Monday.
"A spokesman for the navy?s general staff said that one of the possibilities was that the accident had been caused by collision with a foreign submarine," Itar-Tass reported.
"A source in the Northern Fleet command said he believed this was the key version. He did not rule out that the foreign submarine was also damaged and was now not far from the Kursk."
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said: "We have no indication that a U.S. vessel was involved in this accident." He would not say, however, whether a U.S. submarine was in the area at the time.
U.S. submarines normally monitor the movement of Russian submarines. It was even more likely in this case because of the size of the Russian naval exercise, which Pentagon officials described as the largest of the year.
Because of the major role submarines play in gathering foreign intelligence, the Navy usually is reluctant to discuss details of their movements.
Quigley said the U.S. military had not been asked to assist in a potential rescue of the Russian crew. It was not clear what assistance was possible, even if requested.
The U.S. Navy has a rescue vessel designed to bring the crew of a U.S. or allied submarine to safety, even at depths far beyond that where the disabled Russian submarine rested. But the U.S. vessel is believed to be incompatible with Russian submarines because of differences in the dimensions of hatch seals, officials said.
The U.S. vessel is designed for quick deployment in the event of a submarine accident. The rescue vessel is transportable by truck, aircraft, ship, or by a specially configured attack submarine.
It was not clear how many men were on board the Kursk. Interfax said it was carrying 107 people, including 52 officers. Itar-Tass said such a submarine could carry up to 130 men.
The navy denied a report by NTV television that the cause of the accident was flooding of the torpedo tubes and the front section of the submarine. NTV said a power shutdown might lead to problems with oxygen supplies.
Navy press office head Igor Degalo said the submarine, which can carry nuclear weapons, had none on board. Its nuclear reactor had been shut down and there were no radiation leaks.
However, Norway, which has long feared radioactive pollution from Russia, called a meeting of a crisis team for radioactive accidents to decide whether to take action. They decided to keep testing for any atomic leaks.
The Norwegian environmental group Bellona said on its web site (www.bellona.no) that rescue efforts could be hampered by the power shutdown.
It quoted former Russian naval officer Alexander Nikitin, who was recently cleared by a court of spying after contributing to a Bellona report, as saying if the submarine was at a depth of more than 100 meters it would be difficult to use the Kursk?s ballast tanks to refloat it.
The Kursk is one of the most modern submarines in Russia but Nikitin was quoted as saying that the Oscar-2 class did not have rescue capsules to take the crew to the surface and deep-going rescue submarines would have to be used.
Vladimir Gundarov, a submarine specialist at Red Star, the military?s official newspaper, said rescuing people from a submarine is very difficult and there is no set procedure. The Russian navy does not have advanced submarine rescue vessels, according to standard naval reference works.
"The situation is extremely negative," Gundarov said.
The crew may be able to use rescue capsules, but in a worst-case scenario would have to try escape by swimming out through the torpedo tubes, Gundarov said. "It is extremely risky, but they are all trained to do this," he said.
(Reuters, AP)