NY Times о Kурскe. Нa aнглийском, нeт врeмeни пeрeводить.
More than 100
Russian sailors were trapped at the
bottom of the Barents Sea today with
little hope of rescue after their nuclear submarine was seriously damaged in a collision, the
commander of Russia's navy said.
The navy said it had begun a rescue effort shortly
before 9 p.m Moscow time, (1 p.m. EDT) to
evacuate the crew using a compression chamber
dropped from a ship above. The rescue efforts are
expected to last throughout the night, but Adm.
Vladimir Kuroyedov, the commander of the
Russian Navy, said there was little chance of
rescuing the men trapped aboard the submarine
Kursk.
"Despite all the efforts being taken, the
probability of a successful outcome from the
situation with the Kursk is not very high,"
Admiral Kuroyedov told the ITAR-Tass news
agency.
According to a United States naval intelligence official, the Russian navy has the
capability of rescuing crew members from damaged subs. They have both
deep-diving mini-subs and ships carrying compression chambers that can hook up
to the sunken vessel, allowing crew members to escape through an emergency exit
hatch.
Christopher Drew, a New York Times reporter and author of Blind Man's Bluff: The
Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, said that United States Navy
officials consider Russian rescue capabilities to be pretty good.
"The question is whether they can get these rescue vehicles into place before the
sub floods," Mr. Drew said.
The accident apparently occurred during military exercises, that were under
observation by a United States electronic surveillance ship. United States officials
said the Russian government has not asked for assistance.
More than 10 ships, including an aircraft carrier, have been sent to try to rescue
the submarine. But the weather at the sight of the accident is poor, further
complicating the rescue efforts, Russian officials said.
