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Nuke Sub Sunken After Collision With Big Object: Russian Deputy PM
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said Thursday that collision with a big object caused the Kursk nuclear submarine to sink to the bottom of the Barents Sea.
Klebanov, who leads a government commission probing the incident, told reporters that the collision resulted in "a dreadful hole" in the sub and that the disaster "was developing within two minutes," the Itar-Tass news agency reported.
The "Kursk" was commissioned for the Russian Navy in 1995. It has a displacement of 14,700-23,860 tons and can dive to depths of up to 500 meters. The submarine is armed with torpedoes and "Granite" cruise missiles. The vessel can operate autonomously for up to 120 days, the Interfax news agency reported.
Kursk was participating in exercises of the Russian Northern Fleet when disaster struck, reportedly on Saturday.
Klebanov said the sub fell to the seabed from a depth of 20 meters. When it struck the sea floor, the submarine received a second blow.
He said there were no signs of internal blast in the sub's compartments. An explosion inside had been suspected as one of the possible causes.
All efforts to evacuate the 118 submariners aboard the ill-fated Kursk have so far bore no result, but the rescue operation is continuing with 22 surface ships at the site of the accident.
There have had no banging signals from inside the submarine from Wednesday, but officials said the crew might be lying low to conserve oxygen and strength.
Authorities said earlier that the oxygen availability aboard the Kursk could last until Friday, but they later revised that prediction, saying if the crewmembers minimize their activities oxygen could last until next week.
In live footage from the scene, the RTR television showed improved weather and calmer seas, but the underwater currents remain very strong, which, coupled with near-zero visibility, has hampered the rescue vessels' repeated attempts to dock with sub.
Authorities said the submarine carries no nuclear weapons and that the nuclear reactors aboard have already shut down. Radiation levels are also normal.
Earlier Thursday, Interfax quoted Navy spokesman Igor Dyagalo as saying that the sub is slowly sinking deeper into the seabed, although the hatches on the submarine, to which rescue capsules are trying to attach, remain accessible.
Four submersible rescue vehicles took turns Thursday at working deep in the water near the site where the Kursk sank, the Navy press service said.
On Wednesday, Russia agreed to enlist help from Britain and Norway in the rescue bid. It had earlier refrained from seeking outside assistance.
The Norwegian vessel "Sea Eagle," with 12 deep-water divers from a special Defense Ministry unit, is expected to reach the site Friday evening, Interfax reported.
A second Norwegian vessel carrying the British submarine rescue craft "LR-5" is also expected to arrive at the scene at about 1 p.m. Saturday, Interfax said, quoting military sources.
In addition, Germany has also offered to send a team of doctors and decompression chambers to the place where Kursk went down.
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