21 August 2000

Kursk fate shows up gaps in Russia's rescue system

By Richard Scott JDW Naval Editor, London

Norwegian divers have confirmed that the Russian submarine Kursk, stranded on the floor of the Barents Sea, is completely flooded, effectively ending the last faint hopes that some members of the submarine's crew could be found alive.

Whether there was ever any possibility of rescuing survivors from the stricken submarine is still subject to debate. While the Russian Navy insists that SOS messages were picked up from inside the Kursk, US intelligence sources suggest that nothing was heard from the submarine in the time after it suffered two catastrophic internal explosions on the morning of 12 August.

What is clear, however, is the chronic state of Russia's own submarine rescue organisation in its vain attempts to rescue what survivors there might have been aboard Kursk. The three rescue submersibles deployed found themselves poorly equipped to cope with the poor weather, strong currents and turbidity encountered in the vicinity of the submarine. Their limited manoeuvrability repeatedly prevented docking on the aft escape hatch.

That this hatch was itself subsequently found to be damaged illustrated another weakness in the Russian rescue capability. It was, in fact, Norwegian divers who, in the space of 24 hours, succeeded in prising open the outer and inner escape hatches to ascertain that the entire submarine was indeed flooded. The Russian Northern Fleet apparently had no specialist diving team of its own, and is reported as having turned down offers of assistance from former naval divers.

There is a large body of opinion which suggests that, given the huge damage sustained by the Kursk, all thoughts of rescuing survivors were largely academic. But to a Russian population holding out lingering hopes that at least some of the crew would be found alive, the handling of the rescue - and not least the delay in accepting overseas assistance - paints a picture of mismanagement and institutional disarray which tarnishes the Russian government almost as much as the navy itself.

There may be worse to come. Attempts will now proceed to recover the dead and identify options for salvage. Should it emerge that some of the crew had indeed survived for some time after the Kursk went to the bottom, the criticism of the rescue operation and the government's handling of the incident will grow louder still.

Russian TV footage showing Norwegian divers attempting to prise open the rear escape hatch on the Kursk PA; 0073348

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