Debris Cleared From Sunken Sub
The task of clearing debris from the wreck of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk will be completed today, the Russian Navy said. The Kursk sank in the Barents Sea last August with the loss of all 118 crew. "Work on clearing the debris from the vessel will be completed this afternoon as planned," a spokesman for Vice-Admiral Mikhail Motsak, who is coordinating the recovery operation, told Reuters from aboard the warship Severomorsk. An international salvage team aboard the high-tech dive support ship Mayo conducted the clean-up operation using robots controlled from the deck. The support ship will leave for the Norwegian port of Kirkenes later on Wednesday to swap cleaning equipment for cutting gear, the navy spokesman said.
Kursk to Be Lifted As Early as Next Month
A Dutch firm leading Russia's effort to raise the Kursk said on Monday it was convinced the salvage was safe and planned to start cutting away the nuclear submarine's mangled torpedo bay at the end of this week. Vyacheslav Zakharov, head of the Moscow office of Dutch heavy transport specialist Mammoet, said the 18,000 ton Kursk would be lifted in mid-September as planned, some 13 months after two explosions tore it open in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 men on board. "Navy specialists have proved fairly convincingly to us that there is no danger...and there are no unexploded torpedoes in (Kursk's) front section," Zakharov said. He said divers hoped to resume work on the Kursk later on Monday, after a storm halted the project with 16 of 26 planned holes already cut in the hull.
