U.K. Vehicle Lowered to Aid Russian Sub

[Steve Savicki]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050806/ap_on_re_eu/russia_navy_accident

MOSCOW - Crews on Sunday began lowering a British remote-controlled underwater vehicle to a Russian mini-submarine trapped deep under the Pacific Ocean, hoping to reach seven trapped crewmen before their air supply ran out, Russian news agencies reported.

British crews were working with Russian naval authorities to lower the Super Scorpio unmanned robotic vehicle down to the sub, which was snarled by a military listening antenna 625 feet below the surface nearly three days ago

Good to hear some countries are getting along. Unlike a country where the president can't get along with anybody.

[Nickdfresh]

Robot craft reaches sunken Russian sub
Sub's air will be exhausted Monday afternoon, admiral says

Saturday, August 6, 2005; Posted: 8:15 p.m. EDT (00:15 GMT)


A computer-generated image shows Russian rescue ships trying to lift a sub closer to the surface.

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- An unmanned vehicle lowered by a team of British rescuers has reached the Russian minisub stranded on the bottom the Pacific with seven crew members aboard, U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman John Yoshishige said.

The Scorpio 45 has three cameras as well as cable-cutting equipment.

Vladimir Pepelyaev, deputy chief of staff of Russia's navy, has said there is enough air in the submarine to last through 2 p.m. Monday (9 p.m. Sunday ET).

Officials at Russian Naval Headquarters said they have contacted the submarine crew, and they are in satisfactory condition.

Four U.S. Navy divers were aiding the British team. However, the rest of the Americans were at a Russian harbor 45 miles (75 kilometers) away, trying to get their equipment loaded onto a Russian ship.

The minisub got snagged off Russia's east coast Thursday. Initial reports said the propeller of the sub, the AS-28, became caught on some fishing nets or cable. However, Interfax reported the sub snagged an anchor cable of a coastal observation aerial.

Russian rescuers have been using cables to try to drag the vessel to a depth of 200 feet, where divers can reach it, a Russian naval official said Saturday.

Japan is sending ships that are expected to arrive Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Saturday with the prime minister, defense minister and head of federal security services. Putin then ordered Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov to fly to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

The sub incident comes almost five years after the giant Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank in the icy waters of the Barents Sea. All 118 crew members aboard died.

Russian authorities were slow to ask for international assistance during the Kursk mishap; this time they promptly asked for help.

Officials said the Russian navy immediately tried to get in contact with the U.S. Pacific Fleet through the U.S. naval attaché office in Moscow.

CNN's Matthew Chance, Nastya Anashkina, Karina Chobanyan and Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.

[monkeythe]

Originally posted by Steve Savicki


Good to hear some countries are getting along. Unlike a country where the president can't get along with anybody. [/B]

What country would you be talking about? Since the evil Brits & evil-Americans are helping the Russians what country has a president that doesn't get along with anybody.

[FORD]

Originally posted by monkeythe
What country would you be talking about? Since the evil Brits & evil-Americans are helping the Russians what country has a president that doesn't get along with anybody.

Israel?

Gotta admit that Ariel Sharon is one mean fascist bastard.

[Steve Savicki]

Originally posted by monkeythe what country has a president that doesn't get along with anybody.

Try his own... or does he not see how much his own voters have turned against him?

[Dan]

Just got News all crew are safe and sound.

[FORD]

Trapped sub surfaces, crew safe

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A Russian mini-submarine that had been trapped at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean since Thursday surfaced Sunday, and all seven of the crew members on board are alive and in satisfactory condition, officials said.

Authorities had been concerned about the amount of oxygen available to the crew after the mini-submarine became entangled and trapped on the ocean floor, nearly 190 meters (625 feet) below the surface in Berezovaya Bay -- 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on Russia's far eastern coast.

"I would like to thank our British colleagues for their aid in saving the crew," said Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy head of the Russian navy's headquarters, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax. "The crew's condition is satisfactory."

Following a request for assistance from Russia, U.S. and British rescuers had responded to the scene.

A British crew lowered into the water an unmanned rescue vehicle called a Scorpio 45, which cut the items pinning the sub underwater.

The U.S. also had sent two unmanned rescue vehicles, called Super Scorpios, but they did not leave the port of Petropavlovsk. A U.S. crew, along with equipment, was taken to the site by a Russian ship.

The sub was raised about 4:20 p.m. (3:20 a.m. GMT), said U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman John Yoshishige. It apparently had been entangled in a fishing net, he said.

"It's a great effort by all involved, and we're very pleased about that," U.S. Pacific Fleet Cmdr. Mark McDonald told CNN.

Yoshishige said a U.S. Navy doctor was evaluating the crew's condition, but confirmed all seven members were alive.

Pepelyayev told Interfax the crew opened the hatch of the mini-sub on their own.

The rescue effort earlier was briefly delayed when the Scorpio 45 experienced functioning problems and briefly was brought to the surface, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

After the sub became stuck, Russia swiftly asked for international assistance, conscious of avoiding the tragedy five years ago when their request to help save the crew of the nuclear submarine Kursk was slower.

Those 118 crew members died when the submarine sank in the Barents Sea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Saturday with officials and had dispatched Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov to Kamchatka.

CNN Correspondents Matthew Chance and Kathleen Koch contributed to this report

[Steve Savicki]

That's good to know that everyone's safe.