Barge Departs to Raise Russian Sunken Submarine Kursk

The Gaint-4 barge to draw the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine to shore departed Friday from the Norwegian port of Kirkenes for the disaster site, beginning the final stage of the salvage operation, a top official in the mission said.

Igor Spassky, chief of the Rubin submarine design bureau told a news conference in Russia's northern port of Murmansk that the barge will arrive at the operation area in one day.

An international team of divers has been clearing debris from around the holes they cut earlier, through which heavy cables will be attached to lift the wrecked vessels. The cables are to be connected to hydraulic lifting devices, anchored to the barge.

Officials said the clearing will be completed in the next few days and the actual lifting will take place on September 25, several days later than the original target date. Foul weather and technical malfunction have caused delays in the salvage efforts.

"If weather permits and the operations proceed according to the schedule, the Kursk will be placed in the dock on October 4 to 5," the Russian navy's deputy command-in-chief Mikhail Barskov said.

While the sea was calm Friday, Admiral Vyacheslav Popov, commander of the Northern Fleet, forecast unfavorable weather from the evening, which he believed would last for a coming week.

Wind Velocity will rise to 12 meters per second and the sea will become moderately rough, making the diver's working condition more hardy, he said.

But the admiral said everything is ready for the arrival of the Giant 4 and the lifting is about to start in the near future.

He also said the operation area would be more heavily guarded in connection with last week's terrorist attacks in the U.S.

On the same day, an international press center for covering the salvage operation of Russia's sunken submarine Kursk opened in Murmansk. As many as 1,150 journalists and technical staff from 30 countries are accredited at the press center.






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