Accessibility links

Breaking News

Russian Mini-Sub Stuck Beneath Pacific


5 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The Russian Navy says sailors on board a small submarine stuck at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean have a four-day oxygen supply.

The 13-meter-long submarine, with seven crewmembers on board, was taking part in rescue exercises off the Kamchatka Peninsula when it got stuck on the sea floor on 4 August.

Navy spokesman Aleksandr Kossolapov, speaking in Vladivostok today, said the submersible craft is stuck at a depth of 190 meters, at the bottom of Berezovaya Bay, some 70 kilometers from the regional capital of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskii.

The Russian Pacific Fleet says an operation is under way to bring the craft to the surface. Nearby ships have dropped their anchors to trawl the sea floor to try to disengage the craft from whatever is keeping it stuck.

Rescue officials say the vessel might have become entangled in fishing nets or undersea cables.

(dpa/AFP/Interfax)

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG