RUSSIA/AT SEA: RUSSIAN AND DUTCH SPECIALISTS SAY LIFTING OF NUCLEAR SUBMARINE KURSK FROM BOTTOM OF BARENTS SEA WILL BEGIN ON JULY 9

Record ID: 647144

  • Title: RUSSIA/AT SEA: RUSSIAN AND DUTCH SPECIALISTS SAY LIFTING OF NUCLEAR SUBMARINE KURSK FROM BOTTOM OF BARENTS SEA WILL BEGIN ON JULY 9
  • Date: 29th June 2001
  • Summary: (W6)BARENTS SEA (FILE)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SCU'S: SUBMARINE KURSK LYING ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (3 SHOTS) 0.24 (W6) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JUNE 29, 2001)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 2. SV: PHOTOGRAPHER 0.28 3. MV: SPECIALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH SCREEN SHOWING COMPUTER ANIMATION 0.38 4. SV: (SOUNDBITE)(English) FRANS VAN SEUMEREN, PRESIDENT OF "MAMMOET" Co SAYING: "Next week in principle the diving support vessel will leave Aberdeen to go to the job site. Then we will start with the soil washing, making the holes in the sub." 1.09 5. WS: NEWS CONFERENCE 1.14 6. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MIKHAIL BARSUKOV, DEPUTY NAVY COMMANDER AND VICE-ADMIRAL SAYING: "According to the plan-schedule, we plan to be above the spot where Kursk is lying already on July 9-10." 1.27 7. VARIOUS: SCREEN WITH KURSK LIFTING GRAPHICS (5 SHOTS) 2.08 8. SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(English) VAN SEUMEREN SAYING: "The lifting part of this job is the most difficult part and we are lifting experts. We work all over the world. We are the biggest heavy lifting company in the world so we are very proud that we could take this job. For the marine activities we have a very good partner in 'Smit' who are the biggest salvage company in the world." 2.31 9. VARIOUS OF COMPUTER ANIMATION OF THE LIFTING PROCEDURE (3 SHOTS) 3.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA / BARENTS SEA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA74YSX8UZFI96VKM0S2N39X5W
  • Story Text: Russian and Dutch specialists taking part in the raising of
    the wrecked Russian nuclear submarine Kursk from the
    bottom of the Barents sea, have said the lifting operation
    will start on July 9 and be completed by the end of September.


    The Kursk, powered by two nuclear reactors, sank on
    August 12, 2000 off Russia's Arctic Kola peninsula, killing
    all 118 crew.

    Russian officials say the disaster was probably caused by
    a torpedo explosion which detonated most of the arsenal on
    board. However the exact cause of the disaster remains a
    mystery.

    President Vladimir Putin has promised bereaved relatives
    the wreck will be lifted this year.

    Officials in charge of raising the submarine said on
    Friday (June 29) that they would start deploying the first
    vessel next week with a view toward ending the whole operation
    by mid September.

    "Next week the diving support vessel will leave Aberdeen
    (Scotland) to go to the job site," said Frans van Seumeren,
    president of the Dutch company Mammoet signed up by Moscow to
    carry out the operation.

    He told reporters that workers would start by cutting off
    the devastated bow where the submarine's torpedoes are stored.

    Special robots will be lowered to fulfil the task.

    Salvagers fear triggering an accidental blast from the
    remaining unexploded torpedoes when they move the submarine's
    body, lying at a depth of more than 100 metres (350 feet).

    Russia says it will deal with the torpedo bay later and
    without foreign help.

    Russian deputy navy commander Mikhail Barsukov said the
    first stage of the salvage would begin between July 9 and 10.

    Van Seumeren said the actual lifting operation was
    scheduled for September 15-20. A Russian company is to provide
    Mammoet with giant pontoons specially designed for the task.

    It is the first time the Mammoet company has been involved
    in lifting a nuclear submarine but they say they are very
    proud to have taken the job and are convinced they will
    succeed. "We are the biggest heavy lifting company in the
    world so we are very proud to take this job" said Frans van
    Seumeren.

    The operation to raise the submarine has sparked
    controversy with calls for the vessel to be buried under
    concrete to minimise the danger from its two nuclear reactors.

    Russian officials have said they chose to lift the wreck
    to avoid any risk of polluting a busy international fishing
    area with radiation, which ecologists say could start leaking
    from the body as reactor protection deteriorates.

    The military also say they hope a close inspection of the
    Kursk will help shed some light on the cause of the accident,
    though other Russian officials doubt the wrecked body would
    give any new clues to investigators.


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