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Russia Makes Progress in Raising Kursk Submarine
In a major step in the operation to raise the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine, the first of two giant pontoons intended to hoist the 18,000-ton vessel was brought out of the shipyard Thursday to be lowered into the sea.
Hundreds of officials, journalists and workers from the Sevmash shipyard watched the pontoon inching along a track onto a dock as Soviet-era patriotic songs blared from loudspeakers.
In two days, the pontoon will be lowered into the White Sea, about 600 miles north of Moscow.
Sevmash built the pontoon on order from the Dutch company Mammoet, which is preparing to lift the Kursk with another Dutch firm, Smit International, under a contract with the Russian government. The shipyard, which employs 20,000 workers and spreads for 2.4 square miles, specializes in nuclear submarines. It launched the Kursk in 1994.
The pontoons, the second of which is to be launched next week, were built at unprecedented speed after the Russian government signed the contract with Mammoet on May 30. Each pontoon is equipped with engines, pumps, life-support systems and other essential equipment.
Early next month, the pontoons will be towed to the Russian navy's Roslyakovo ship repair plant near the port of Murmansk, where they will await the arrival of the submarine.
After the Kursk is towed to harbor, the pontoons will be used to hoist the submarine onto a dry dock.
The Kursk is to be brought to the surface Sept. 15 by steel cables connected to 26 computer-controlled hydraulic lifting devices anchored to a giant barge. But preparatory work, which started last month, has taken longer than expected and rough weather may also interfere with the salvage effort.
Once the Kursk's bow is sawed off, the divers will begin attaching the steel cables. Towing the submarine to harbor is expected to take up to two weeks.
The Russian Navy has said it will raise the front section ¡ª which is thought to contain more clues about the cause of the disaster ¡ª or some fragments of it next year.
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