Russian submarine rescued by Royal Navy

A Russian submarine trapped in Berezov Bay, 75km south of Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, has been rescued after it was cut free by a Royal Navy Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). The crew of seven officers and midshipmen, who spent three days in temperatures around 6 C, were unharmed.

The submarine appeared on the surface at 7.25am local time. "The crew opened the hatch and climbed rescue ship's deck on their own," said admiral Victor Fyedorov. The first aid to the cew was given on ship Alagez, and they were transfered to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka hospital.

The British Scorpio ROV cut fishing nets and debris, freeing the trapped submarine. "The rescue operation was completed successfully. We thank everyone, and especially the British rescue crew," said Fyedorov.

The submarine will be repaired and modernized. "After salvaging it, AS-28 will be carried on one of the rescue ship's decks to the coast, where specialists will examine it," said a spokesperson of VMS ("Company for secondary metal and boats").

Crew

• Vyacheslav Milashevskiy (Вячеслав Милашевский), captain-lieutenant
• Antoliy Popov (Анатолий Попов), navigator
• Sergey Belezerov (Сергей Белозеров)
• Alexandr Uybin (Александр Уйбин)
• Alexandr Ivanov (Александр Иванов)
• Valeriy Lepotyuha (Валерий Лепетюха)
• Henadiy Polonin (Геннадий Полонин)

Sources

• "Спасательная операция у берегов Камчатки завершена". ITAR-TASS, August 7, 2005

• "Russian submarine and crew saved". BBC, August 7, 2005

• "После обследования АС-28 отправят на ремонт и модернизацию". RIA, August 7, 2005

• "Spaseni mornari ruske podmornice". B92, August 7, 2005