DATE=8/30/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / SUB (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-265989
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian officials say efforts to recover the
remains of 118-seamen who died aboard the nuclear
submarine Kursk will begin by the end of September.
The Kremlin has been under intense pressure from the
victims' families to retrieve the bodies for burial.
Moscow Correspondent Eve Conant reports, the plan
calls for Norwegian and Russian deep-sea divers to
drill six holes into the submarine's hull, then
extract the bodies.
TEXT: After meeting with President Vladimir Putin,
Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov announced a
Russian plan for Norwegian and Russian deep-sea divers
to train for one-month and then begin the delicate
task of recovering the bodies of the 118 seamen
trapped in the sunken Kursk submarine.
/// 1ST KLEBANOV ACT IN RUSSIAN--IN FULL & FADE ///
Mr. Klebanov says preparations for the recovery
mission will take one month. He says Russian
officials hope that several crews will be able to go
underwater to begin the mission by the end of
September.
All 118-seamen aboard the Kursk died after the
nuclear-powered vessel plunged to the bottom of the
Barents Sea during training exercises on August 12th.
Russian officials say the disaster was most likely
caused by a collision with a foreign object, which
then set off an explosion inside the Kursk. U-S
official's say there is evidence the explosion was
caused by a faulty torpedo onboard the submarine.
Deputy Prime Minister Klebanov said no new torpedoes
were being tested, and the type onboard the Kursk had
been in service for 20-years.
Mr. Klebanov said only Russian divers would enter the
Kursk, but that each deep-diver's crew would consist
of one Norwegian and two Russians. The Russian plan
envisions that the diving teams will drill holes into
the hull. Russian divers will then enter the vessel
and begin to remove the bodies.
Deputy Prime Minister Klebanov estimated it would cost
between five-million and seven-million dollars to
recover the crewmembers' remains. The next step would
be to raise the entire submarine from the sea bottom.
/// 2ND KLEBANOV ACT IN RUSSIAN--IN FULL & FADE ///
He says it will be a very complicated operation,
perhaps one of the most complicated operations on
lifting sunken vessels ever carried out in the world.
The operation likely would be in Mr. Klebanov's words
- technically, purely Russian, but would involve
international financing.
The Russian government official says efforts to raise
the submarine most likely would begin next September,
after a full year of preparations. (SIGNED)
NEB/EC/WTW/RAE
30-Aug-2000 12:31 PM EDT (30-Aug-2000 1631 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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