Russians battle to save sailors trapped in submarine

2:00 PM

MOSCOW - Rescuers battled worsening weather through the Arctic night into Tuesday in feverish efforts to save 116 sailors trapped in a crippled Russian submarine lying for nearly two days at the bottom of the sea.

Interfax news agency said conditions had sharply worsened during the night, with heavy winds and choppy seas in the area of the disabled nuclear-powered vessel.

Naval teams had hooked up a diving bell to provide oxygen and power to the crew who on Sunday were forced to turn off the reactor on the vessel, the Kursk, one of Russia's most modern submarines, and let it drift to the seabed.

Mini-submarines circled the crippled vessel 150 metres beneath the surface of the Barents Sea and were surveying its hull to determine the extent of the damage. They had managed to make contact with the trapped crew.

Officials on Monday gave conflicting signals over the chances of saving the crew or recovering the craft.

Navy commander, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, who heads the rescue operation, made clear he was not hopeful.

"The chances for a positive outcome are not very high," Tass quoted him as saying. Kuroyedov did not specify whether he meant the fate of the submarine or its crew.

But other officials sounded upbeat.

"The situation is serious, but according to the command of the Northern Fleet its rescue teams have enough resources to deal with the issue without turning to others for help," Tass quoted the fleet's command as saying.

Moscow has not said whether it will attempt to raise the Kursk or try to evacuate the submarine. Both the United States and Britain have offered help, which has not so far been accepted by Moscow.

The United States has two Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles which can conduct rescue operations in depths of up to 610 metres and evacuate up to 24 crew members at a time.

Britain has put a deep search and rescue submarine on standby.

A large fleet of Russian surface vessels is anchored above the crippled submarine, with the aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, serving as a base for helicopters.

There were also conflicting reports about the cause of the accident, with some officials suggesting the submarine may have been involved in a collision, but others saying a malfunction or blast on its bow had sent it to the bottom.

"Preliminary results of an external observation of the submarine using deep water apparatus ... does not confirm the theory of a collision with an unidentified object," Tass said.

It said its source was an official at a defence firm taking part in efforts to rescue the stricken submarine.

"He (the source) did not exclude the possibility that the damage to the nose section of the sub was caused by an explosion in that section," Tass said, adding that its source had not said what could have caused such a blast.

But the agency also noted it had earlier quoted an official with Russia's Northern Fleet as saying a collision perhaps with a foreign submarine was considered the "key version."

There were also varying reports about the condition of the crew, with some suggesting there may have been injuries or deaths when the submarine went down.

The Kursk, one of eight giant Oscar-2 class submarines in the Russian fleet, was commissioned only five years ago and represents the height of Russia's nuclear submarine technology.

Russia has said the crippled submarine poses no threat to the environment. It was carrying no nuclear weapons and the reactor that powers its engines has been shut down. Norwegian officials said there was no sign of a radiation leak.

The vessel went down during training exercises on Sunday, about 137 km from its base in the port of Severomorsk.

- REUTERS