Russia seeks help to recover bodies

Grief-stricken relatives have been converging on Murmansk

Russia has asked Norway for help to recover bodies from the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk after acknowledging that all 118 men on board are dead.

Norway is considering its response, but Norwegian divers have warned that the operation would be long and dangerous, lasting a month or more.

The memory of our comrades in arms will live forever in our hearts and in the history of the Russian navy

Northern Fleet commander, Vyacheslav Popov

All hope of finding survivors on the submarine, which sank during exercises on 12 August, came to an end when the divers forced open the submarine's rear escape hatch and found that the whole of the vessel was flooded.

The first dead body from the submarine was found near a hatch and brought to the surface by the divers.

Sorrow

"The military council of the Northern Fleet is deeply sorrowed and offers its sympathy to the relatives of the dead," said a statement from the fleet's commander, Vyacheslav Popov, quoted by Russian news agencies.

Kursk timeline

12 August: Sinks in Barents Sea during exercises

14 August: Russian navy inspects stricken sub

15 August: Attempts to attach rescue capsule fail

16 August: Russians report no signs of life in the Kursk. Accept help from the West

17 August: British and Norwegian craft readied for rescue attempt

19 August: British and Norwegian teams arrive at the scene

20 August: Norwegian divers examine the Kursk

21 August: Divers enter flooded sub

"The memory of our comrades in arms will live forever in our hearts and in the history of the Russian navy."

Interviewed on Russian television, Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev said that no "big mistakes" had been made during the rescue operation.

His comments came amid growing anger in Russia over the failed rescue operation, and calls for a full parliamentary inquiry into the disaster.

"We cannot rule out that some mistakes were made, but I think, perhaps still in the heat of the moment, that fundamental mistakes were not made," said Mr Sergeyev, looking grim and taking long pauses between words.

Hazards

He added that no other Oscar-2 class submarines would be allowed out to sea until the reasons for the disaster were clarified.

A mother's instinct tells me that somehow he is still alive

Grieving mother, Nina Anikiev

The Kursk went down after suffering a catastrophic explosion which ripped it open from the nose to the central conning tower.

Many of those on board are thought to have died instantly, though Russia reported that sailors were heard knocking on the submarine's hull on Monday, two days after the explosion.

The company which employs the Norwegian divers, Stolt Offshore, said it could be too dangerous for divers to try to squeeze into the narrow escape hatch and search the chill, dark waters.

"As far as we're concerned we've done what we could. Entering the submarine via the escape hatch would be distinctly hazardous," said company spokesman Julian Thomson.

But he said: "We are positive and will see what we can do."

Divers would have to cut a bigger hole in the Kursk to reach the interior, an operation which could take weeks to prepare, Mr Thomson added.

The British mini-submarine LR5, which was not required in the attempts to enter the nuclear submarine, is heading back to Norway on board the Normand Pioneer ship.

Families' struggle

Russian authorities have also said that they will set up an international fund to finance an attempt to lift the submarine, with its two nuclear reactors, from the floor of the Barents Sea.

Families of the sailors, assembled close to the Kursk's home port of Severomorsk, near Murmansk, struggled to comprehend the news that there were no survivors.

One distraught mother, Nina Anikiev, 48, whose son Roman was on board, said she could not believe it.

"A mother's instinct tells me that somehow he is still alive," she said.

"He only signed his contract a month ago, and it was his first mission. He didn't even have time to send me home any of his pay packet."

Among those who sent their condolences was the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.