By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP)
- In one of the most daunting salvage efforts in naval history,
an international team of divers is grappling with the delicate
task of recovering the dead crewmen of the nuclear submarine Kursk
from a silt-filled labyrinth of mangled steel.
The explosion
that ravaged the Kursk measured 3.5 on seismic monitors, equivalent
to a small earthquake. It likely pulverized everything inside
the front part of the submarine, and possibly wrenched off the
heavy equipment in the back compartments, which divers hope to
enter.
That makes
the divers' every step a frightening foray into the unknown. As
they feel their way through pitch-black darkness, clad in ballooning
pressure suits, they risk getting trapped between pieces of smashed
equipment and cutting their air hoses on jagged pieces of metal.
Russian navy
chief Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov described the rescue effort as a
``serious challenge ... in the technological and moral and psychological
sense.''
Divers reached
the site of the Aug. 12 sinking on Friday and spent the weekend
working round-the-clock in shifts to cut holes through the hull.
Rising winds and waves more than 30 feet high interrupted the
divers' work Monday.
The operation
in the icy arctic waters is so dangerous that the Russian navy
chief has reserved the right to cancel it if experts rule it would
jeopardize divers' lives.
Some of the
concern surrounds the two nuclear reactors on board the sub, which
shut down automatically after the first explosion. Monitors have
found no increased radiation around the vessel.
If the decision
is made to proceed, only Russian divers would go inside the Kursk,
while their British and Norwegian teammates will assist with the
operation from inside the diving bell lowered to the vessel, which
is lying some 330 feet below the surface of the Barents Sea.
The Kursk,
one of the largest submarines in the world, was packed with equipment
and had only 20- to 32-inch-wide walkways for the crew - making
it nearly impassable for the divers in bulky suits.
``The submarine
is a very cramped place,'' the Kursk's chief designer Igor Spassky
said in an interview with the weekly Vek newspaper. ``And the
diving suit has a geometrically complex shape, with many pieces
of equipment attached to it.''
Despite the
fears, divers have continued preparations for entering the Kursk,
cutting through the thick hull to gain access to the bodies. They
work in teams of three - two Russians and one foreign diver -
and rest between dives in a pressurized chamber inside the mother
ship, the Regalia, to prevent injury to their lungs and other
organs. They breathe a helium mixture, which affects the vocal
chords and makes their voices shrill.
Adding to
the high risk and physical rigor of the divers' work is the psychological
pressure of working with the dead, the ever-present possibility
they'll collide face to face with a floating corpse.
Even if remains
are successfully taken out of the submarine, raising them to the
surface will be hard, requiring a slow, gradual decrease in pressure.
If raised quickly, the bodies would be torn apart by the high
pressure inside them.
Penetrating
the hull has itself presented obstacles. Unlike most Western submarines,
the Kursk has a double hull, consisting of two layers of steel
with eight inches of rubber between them to muffle mechanical
sounds and make them inaudible to enemy sonar.
Divers have
used a high-pressure spray of water and diamond powder to cut
holes in the steel hull, but had to use a surface crane to pluck
out the rubber.
Experts are
still arguing over whether there is a chance of finding bodies.
Even if the divers can squeeze inside and perform the nearly impossible
task of finding their way amid the silt-flooded maze of hulking
engine shafts, wheels and generators, it will be extremely difficult
for them to locate any bodies in the darkness.
Spassky said
a beam of light from a helmet flashlight reaches only 12-16 feet,
and covers even less in the silt. Each of the two or three back
compartments the divers hope to enter has about 35,000 cubic feet
to explore.
Officials
and experts have said at least two-thirds of the Kursk's 118 crewmen
were in the weapons and control rooms in the submarine' forward
section at the time of the explosion and died almost instantly,
their bodies likely blown to bits. The rest could have died later,
drowned in the water that seeped through the cracks in the hull.
``We hope
to find only 20-30 percent of the bodies in the stern compartments,''
Spassky said.
Clues to the
cause of the disaster are hidden in the sub's bow, which divers
aren't going to enter. Officials now agree that the first explosion,
which sent the Kursk crashing to the bottom, was likely caused
by an explosion of a practice torpedo in one of the nose tubes.
The initial
explosion of the torpedo's kerosene fuel and highly concentrated
hydrogen peroxide, which was used as an oxidant, thrust the Kursk
down onto the seabed, they said. The blast could have been caused
by an internal malfunction, collision with a World War II mine
or a Western submarine, officials said.
After the
Kursk hit the ocean floor, several dozen of its torpedoes, containing
tons of explosives, detonated. That sent a giant fireball and
shock wave through the hull, killing most of the crew.
Authorities
plan to raise the Kursk in the spring, hoping to find out what
caused the disaster.
President
Vladimir Putin promised to recover the bodies at an emotional
meeting with angry relatives of the victims shortly after the
disaster. Aware of the risks, marine experts and even many of
the victims' families now say the bodies should be left inside
the submarine until it is brought to the surface.
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