GUANEWS

Ru.races to salvage submarine stuck

                                      

The Russian navy continued a massive rescue operation Saturday to salvage a mini-submarine stuck in the Pacific seabed and its seven crew members, as British and US planes car rying rescue teams and equipment arrived to help out.

    

AS-28 mini-submarine is seen in this image taken from television.  (Xinhua/AFP photo)

The AS-28 mini-submarine got entangled with a fishnet Thursday night on the seabed off the Kamchatka Peninsula, about 200 km south of Kamchatka's regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Ata depth of 190 meters, the submarine was too far down to allow the crew to evacuate.

    The submarine was towed about 100 meters toward the coast Friday night.

    At Russia's request, a British Air Force plane landed Saturday morning at Yelizovo airport near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky with an underwater Scorpio submersible aboard, Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo told the Itar-Tass news agency.

    "The British aircraft was the first to deliver an unmanned Scorpio submersible to save the trapped AS-28 mini-submarine," Dygalo said.

    Two hours after the British plane landed, a US Air Force C-5 transport aircraft touched down carrying two remote-controlled, deep-diving "Super Scorpio" submersibles and 30 Navy operators. It would take several hours for the vehicles to be hauled to the site of the accident.

    A second US plane is expected to deliver a third Super Scorpio submersible at 15:00 Moscow time (1100 GMT). A third US plane is expected to fly in divers and special suits to allow divers to reach extreme depths.

    The lobster-shaped Super Scorpio submersibles are equipped withblack and white video cameras, two robotic arms that can each lift about 250 pounds and a cable cutter that can slice through 2.54 cm-thick steel cables.

    As the rescue operation dragged on, fears grew for dwindling oxygen supplies onboard the submarine. Reports on air aboard the vessel varied from one to three days for the crew.

    Russian Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Viktor Fyodorov told Russia's Channel One television Friday the submarine had only enough air onboard to last "a bit more than 24 hours," but he was later quoted by Interfax as saying the vessel had enough air to last until Aug. 8.

    Dygalo said the crew members are "in stable, satisfactory condition, not showing any changes."

    Russia has also asked Japan to assist in the rescue operation. Japan's Defense Agency has dispatched four vessels of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to join the rescue efforts but it would take three to four days for the vessels to reach the site of the accident.

【作者: zhaoqv】【访问统计:】【2005年08月7日 星期日 09:25】【注册】【打印】