Salvage team 'well prepared'

The Kursk's two nuclear reactors are still on board

By Caroline Wyatt in the Barents Sea

The crew held a minute's silence on board the ship as we approached the site of the Kursk.

The Mayo is now above the wrecked submarine

On top of the rough grey waters of the Barents Sea, two orange buoys float to mark where the wreckage lies, 100m below.

Above it is the British-based ship, the Mayo, with 25 British and Russian divers on board.

Tests of the waters have shown normal radiation levels.

There are still two nuclear reactors on board the Kursk.

Click here to see how the Kursk will be raised

At a press conference from one of the Russian destroyers in the area, the vice-admiral in charge of the operation, Mikhail Motsak, said the salvage team was well prepared.

So far, he said, no unexploded torpedoes had been found, so he believes it will soon be safe to begin cutting off the badly damaged front section of the Kursk.

The vice-admiral said Russia owed it to the submariners who lost their lives on the Kursk to bring their bodies back to land for a decent burial.

He said the Kursk itself, or at least the back section containing the nuclear reactors, posed a serious environmental hazard that must be removed.

But the reasons behind the dramatic sinking of the Kursk could remain a mystery until at least next year.

The front section, where the unexplained explosions ripped through the submarine, will remain on the sea-bed until then, to be brought up by Russian naval divers alone.

(click here to return)