VLADIVOSTOK, Aug 5: Russia raced on Friday to save seven crewmen trapped on the ocean floor in a submarine with dwindling oxygen supply as three other countries scrambled to help in a deep-sea drama reminiscent of the 2000 Kursk tragedy. The Russian vessel, an AS-28 mini-submarine designed for military research and rescue missions, became stuck on Thursday on the seabed in the Bay of Berezovaya, 70kms south of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the regional capital of the Kamchatka peninsula.

A day after the accident occurred, the commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet announced on state television that rescuers aboard a Russian tugboat had successfully attached cables to the stricken submarine and were preparing to tow it to the surface.

“At present, the tow cables are attached and our ships are simultaneously taking action in order to raise and tow the submarine to shallow waters,” Admiral Viktor Fyodorov said. He spoke shortly after the US Pacific Fleet said it was airlifting two remotely-operated submersibles to assist in rescue efforts while Britain said it would also send an unmanned undersea vehicle and Japan dispatched four ships to the site in response to Russian calls for help.

Russian navy officials said the accident occurred on Thursday when the mini-submarine got stuck at a depth of 190 metres after portions of a fishing net became entangled in and jammed the submarine’s propeller. Official accounts of how much oxygen remained for the crew to breathe varied widely as news of the story developed during the day on Friday, but Admiral Fyodorov said the air supply on the vessel would last until Monday.

Around a dozen Russian naval surface vessels were at the site of the accident and officers were in contact through acoustic signals about every 30 minutes with the crew members, who were staying calm, officials said.

“There is no panic,” said Captain Igor Dygalo, a spokesman for the Russian navy. The incident nonetheless was a chilling reminder of the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in Aug 2000, an accident that ended in death for all 118 crew members following an emergency response effort widely criticized as sluggish.

Russian authorities were attacked during and after that disaster for failing to ask for needed outside help in a timely manner, and the appeals for foreign assistance from Russian military officials on Friday was in stark contrast to the response to the Kursk sinking.

Lt Ryan Perry, a spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet based in Hawaii, said the fleet had agreed to send two remotely-operated Super Scorpio submersibles to Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula to be used if needed in a rescue operation. The submersibles would be accompanied by around 30 fleet personnel to operate the vehicles, he said.

Japan responded first to the call for help, ordering the dispatch of four naval vessels manned by 370 military personnel to the site of the accident. Japanese defence officials cautioned however that it would probably take until Monday for the ships to reach the scene.

“We will do our utmost efforts to rescue them. We are hopeful,” a Japanese military spokesman said.

Britain too said it would send a remote-controlled submersible equipped with cameras and a robotic arm to help in the rescue effort. “It will be able to hopefully free the men,” a British ministry of defence spokesman said.

Russian officials expressed gratitude for the offers of foreign help, but made clear they would also work feverishly to rescue the crew themselves. Prior to Admiral Fyodorov’s announcement that cables had been attached to the stricken submarine, Rear Admiral Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy chief of the Russian navy’s general staff, said operations to raise the vessel would enter an ‘active phase’ from Saturday.

“Sometime after midnight, around two or three o’clock in the morning, the active phase of the operation will begin,” Admiral Pepelyayev said on Russian state television, using Moscow local time as a reference.

That would place the start of those operations around 2200 GMT on Friday, or 11am on Saturday at the site of the accident. Admiral Pepelyayev did not specify what he meant by the ‘active phase’ of the operation.

The AS-28 mini-submarine, 13.5 metres long and with a volume of 110 cubic metres, was first put into service in the late 1980s and the vessel trapped on the seabed was in need of repair.—AFP