Damaged hatch a blow to Russian sub rescue hopes

The British submersible is expected at the rescue site in the next couple of days

Efforts to continue despite setback

MURMANSK, Russia -- Russian navy officials say their attempts to rescue the stricken Kursk submarine will continue around the clock until an expert British team arrives on Saturday.

Rescuers were able to reach the deck of the Kursk on Friday but were unable to get inside because the escape hatch is damaged, a Russian television reporter said.

Arkady Mamontov, a reporter for state-owned RTR television, said that an emergency diving bell latched on to the nuclear submarine's deck but was unable to pump water out of the vessel because of damage to the Kursk's locking rings.

He reported that the bell and its crew were forced to return to the surface when the batteries aboard their craft ran out of power.

VIDEO CNN exclusive: Two Norwegians fly into restricted air space to photograph the Russian submarine rescue scene Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO   Submarine drama: A no-win proposition for Putin? How glider enthusiast may help save Kursk Norwegian camera team captures images of submarine rescue operation What sank the Russian sub?    •  Kursk final refuge  •  Timeline of Kursk events  •  Comparative size of the Kursk  •  Sub's position underwater  •  Anatomy of the Kursk  •  Sub's namesake: The Battle of Kursk  •  Video Archive  •  Story Archive  •  Message boards: Changes in Russia

Hope is fading for the 118 sailors on board, after film of the crippled nuclear submarine showed that damage was much more extensive than first thought.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said on Thursday that Russia has not responded to an offer from Defense Secretary William Cohen to provide U.S. military assistance to the Kursk.

Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov told reporters there was a "terrifying hole" on the starboard side of the Kursk, where around half of the crew were, hinting that they probably did not have time to escape what he called a "catastrophe that developed at lightning speed."

Nevertheless, the Russian navy has not given up hope of finding survivors.

It says its rescue craft made more than 10 approaches in the 12 hours to midday local time on Friday. Four docking attempts failed because of strong currents.

Weather conditions on the surface have improved, said officials, but visibility below the surface of the Barents Sea, where the 14,000-ton Kursk has been stranded since last weekend, is still very poor -- with silt kicked up by the rescue attempts contributing to the problem.

One Russian newspaper is calling the British rescue mission, scheduled for this weekend, "the only hope left".

Undersea helicopter

The navy's deputy chief of staff, Vice-Admiral Alexander Pobozhy, will meet NATO officials in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday to discuss the technical aspect of the international assistance that is speeding to the site.

A Norwegian supply ship carrying a British LR5 mini-sub left Trondheim, in Norway, on Thursday and is expected at the scene of the accident around midday on Saturday. A Norwegian diving team should arrive about 24 hours later.

The LR5 rescue submarine, is known as the undersea helicopter by its pilots but it has never been used in a real-life rescue situation.

British Ministry of Defence officials have seen the video tape of the Kursk, shot by the Russian navy, and say they are confident the LR5 will be able to latch on to the sub.

A Russian doctor and two Russian technicians will be on board in addition to the two-man crew.

There have been conflicting reports about how much oxygen remains for survivors on the Kursk.

Russian reports

Russia's state RTR television, in the first footage filed from a rescue ship, reported some of the crew are now thought to have died when the sub sank.

"The submarine, we can say now, has suffered severe damage, very serious damage in the front section. Water flooded the front in a flash, and the command center, I mean the hull, was destroyed in a moment," the correspondent said from a ship on the Barents Sea.

From: CNN Submarine Rescue Message Board -- Add Your Comments

However he said there was optimism that some of the sailors were still alive even though there have been no recent signs of life from the submarine.

Inside Russia, public anger over the Kursk is growing, much of it directed at President Vladimir Putin.

In an early copy of its Friday edition, the daily Isvestia said, "Those dying in the Barents Sea did not cause our statesmen to interrupt their summer holidays," referring to the fact that Putin stayed on holiday in the southern seaside resort of Sochi rather than return to Moscow.

CNN correspondent Mike Hanna and The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Russia considers dragging sub to shallow water
August 17, 2000
What sank the Russian sub?
August 17, 2000
LR5: The world's most advanced submarine rescue craft
August 16, 2000
Agonising wait of sailors' families
August 16, 2000
Damaged nuclear sub 'poses threat to environment'
August 16, 2000
Britain rushes rescue craft to aid Russian sub
August 16, 2000
Submarine disaster deals setback to Putin
August 15, 2000

UK Ministry of Defence
Perry Slingsby Systems: LR5 manufacturers
World Navies Today: Russian Submarines
Jane's Information Group
Russian Government
NATO

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.