Vehicle cutting cable tangling Russian sub
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-07 08:47

As the American submersibles and crews were being loaded onto ships near the port of Petropavlovsky-Kamchatsky, Commander Bill Hamblet, an assistant U.S. naval attache helping the operation, said the three countries were cooperating with their best equipment and teams.

A video grab shows a Russian rescue team heading out to sea in the Pacific Ocean August 6, 2005. [Reuters]

"It's hard to do anything at that depth, but everyone will try and do their best to save the crew," he told the AP.

Navy estimates of how long the air would last ranged from the end of Saturday until Monday.

The Russian navy made contact with the crew late Saturday, and Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Viktor Fyodorov said their condition was "satisfactory" despite temperatures of 41 to 45 degrees.

"They're not giving up hope," Fyodorov said.

"I assure you, work is continuing without interruption through night and day and will not stop until we actually lift our guys up to the surface," he said. It was not clear if contact with the crew was made by radio or through some other means, but officials said it was taking place every few hours.

Russia's plea for international assistance underlined the deficiencies of its once-mighty navy and strongly contrasted with the August 2000 sinking of the Kursk, when authorities held off asking for help until hope was nearly exhausted. Some of the 118 crew survived for many hours as breathable air ran out.

Rear Admiral Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy head of the navy's general staff, said the air would likely last to the end of the day and possibly through Sunday. Fyodorov gave a similar estimate, but later was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying there was enough to last until Monday.

"They have the air. But you can imagine their state of mind after two days," Pepelyayev said.

Officials said the Russian submarine was participating in a combat training exercise and got snarled on an underwater antenna assembly that is part of a coastal monitoring system. The system is anchored with a weight of about 66 tons, according to news reports.

Russia's cash-strapped navy apparently lacks rescue vehicles capable of operating at the depth where the sub is stranded, and officials say it is too deep for divers or for the crew to swim out on their own. An earlier attempt to drag the vessel to shallower waters failed when cables detached after pulling it some 65 yards.

"We won't try to drag it anymore; we will try to lift the whole system, rip it off and bring it to the surface," Fyodorov said. He said rescuers would try to raise the vessel by lifting with enough force to pull two heavy concrete anchors from the sea floor.

By early Sunday, Putin had made no public comment on the latest sinking, but Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov flew to Kamchatka and was traveling to the site of the rescue operation.

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