Russia strives to rescue stranded mini-sub crew

Preparations are made in California to transport a robotic rescue vehicle to assist seven Russian sailors trapped in a military mini-submarine on the Pacific floor. Picture / Reuters

MOSCOW - The Russian Navy are striving to rescue seven crew members trapped 190 metres below the surface before air runs out.

The mini-submarine, itself a rescue vessel, ran into trouble when its propeller got entangled in fishing nets during a military exercise off the Kamchatka peninsula on Russia's Pacific Coast.

Rescuers sought to drag the AS-28 mini-submarine closer to shallower waters, but anchors and a large surveillance system hindered the plan more than 40 hours after the submarine snagged in deep waters, top officials said.

"We moved it 100 metres toward the coast but the speed is not sufficient," said Admiral Viktor Fyodorov, commander of the Pacific fleet, the Interfax news agency reported.

Rescuers will now seek to cut the surveillance equipment and anchors from the submarine, Fyodorov said.

The crew are in a "satisfactory condition" and are trying to conserve oxygen by keeping movement to a minimum, Navy officials said.

As Russia's Navy raced to save the crew, teams from Britain and the United States were flying to the scene.

Though much smaller in scale, the accident had uncomfortable echoes of the disaster involving the Kursk nuclear submarine almost exactly five years ago.

All 118 seamen on the Kursk died in the accident in August 2000 in the Barents Sea that occurred after explosions on board, and the Kremlin and naval command were sharply criticized for not revealing full information on the disaster.

When news of the accident was released, officers addressed the public via state television hourly although varying estimates of the amount of air left for the crew did little to clarify the situation.

"According to the signal we have received from the crew all is as normal as can be expected on board and the sailors are in a satisfactory condition and are all alive," Rear Admiral Vladimir Pepelyaev told Reuters.

Fyodorov said they should have enough air to last until the "end of the tomorrow."

Russia, which said it had 10 ships in the rescue effort, asked Japan as well as the United States and Britain for help.

Japan's Defence Agency said four military vessels had been sent to join the rescue operation, but said it would take three to four days for them to reach the site of the accident.

Britain, responding to a request from the Russians, was sending a Scorpio remote-controlled underwater vehicle capable of descending 925 meters.

A US Navy spokesman said a Super Scorpio, an unmanned deep diving submarine capable of reaching a depth of 1,515 meters, would be airlifted to the scene from San Diego naval base in California.

A source close to the Russian admiralty said the Japanese help would come no earlier than Tuesday while the US and British rescue operations were expected at 0800 GMT (8pm NZT).

After the Kursk disaster, Russia's navy command faced strong public criticism for being too slow to appeal for foreign help.

At 190 metres, the AS-28, a 13-metre-long vessel capable of diving to depths of 1,000 metres, was too far down to allow the crew to evacuate.



- REUTERS