Kursk docking set for Sunday

The Kursk is for now suspended beneath a huge barge

The barge carrying the wreck of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk is due to enter dry dock in the port of Murmansk on Sunday after a new delay in the recovery operation.

Russian and Dutch salvage teams decided to suspend work on moving the wreck on Saturday after it was decided that the operation would have to be modified, the Russian navy said.

Raising the Kursk was seen as a technical triumph

The personnel involved are anxious to avoid any sudden moves as they bring in the 18,000-ton vessel, which is still carrying twin nuclear reactors and 22 Granit cruise missiles.

The Dutch salvage firm involved, Mammoet, has moved to allay fears about the reactors, saying that radiation levels are monitored 24 hours a day and there has been no problem so far.

The raising of the wreck on 8 October was seen as a triumph, especially as repeated setbacks had pushed the operation perilously close to the Arctic winter.

Investigation

Once the Kursk has been docked, operations will begin to recover weapons and bodies, and find out what went wrong.

The submarine sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea in August 2000, after suffering two on-board explosions.

All 118 men on board died, despite an international rescue effort.

The success of the lifting was celebrated by senior officials

The bow, which remains on the seabed and is believed by many to hold the key to the explosions, is due to be recovered separately next year.

But the Russian naval officer directing the operation, Vice-Admiral Mikhail Barskov, has said that the bow is in such poor condition it cannot be lifted as a whole.

"It doesn't exist," he said.

He added that seven fragments of the bow had been removed when the main part of the submarine was lifted free.