Risky Kursk salvage set to start

The main work to salvage the Kursk can now begin

The international team working to salvage the Kursk nuclear submarine is set to begin the main phase of the two-month operation.

The team has finished clearing debris and silt from the vessel to make it safe so they can begin cutting away the badly damaged front section containing its torpedoes.

From a public relations point of view, I should have returned to Moscow. In practical terms, I could not have changed anything

President Vladimir Putin

As they worked, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday admitted he should have returned from holiday when the submarine sank nearly a year ago.

But he denied claims that if the Russian authorities had immediately appealed for aid, the lives of the 118 Kursk sailors could have been saved.

Next phase

Twenty-five British and Russian divers on board the Norwegian support ship Mayo are now preparing for the operation's next phase, which will culminate in an attempt to cut off the badly damaged front section, using underwater robots.

First, however, the divers will start cutting 26 holes in the hull.

Huge steel cables will later be locked into position at each of these 26 points to haul the crippled vessel from the seabed and back into port. At least two months' work is expected before the submarine is ready for lifting.

The Mayo left the site of the wreck on Wednesday to pick up cutting equipment from the Norwegian port of Kirkenes.

The operation is one of the most ambitious salvage missions ever attempted, and environmentalists are warning that the Kursk's nuclear reactors and weapons systems could pose major hazards.

Fears of future radioactive contamination of the Barents Sea are among the reasons for raising the wreck.

But some experts warn that the very act of moving it could trigger a catastrophic failure in the two reactors.

Click here to see how the Kursk will be raised

The submarine, which is lying on the sea bed under 100 metres (356 feet) of water, sank in August with the loss of all 118 crew.

President Putin was widely criticised for not immediately interrupting his holiday at the time.

He only visited the victims' families when it was clear all was lost and the Russian authorities waited four days to accept international offers to help rescue any surviving crew.

Promise to relatives

Mr Putin told a news conference at the Kremlin that "from a PR point of view" he should have returned to Moscow sooner.

Experts fear unexploded weapons pose a threat

But he added that such a move would not have aided the rescue effort.

"Even if in the very first second... we had appealed to our foreign colleagues, help would still have come too late," he said.

Mr Putin defended the decision to go ahead with the risky operation to raise the Kursk.

He said he was keeping a promise made to the bereaved relatives that the Kursk would be raised this year.

For ecological reasons also, it was better to raise the submarine's two nuclear reactors from the seabed, Mr Putin said.

"We hope that after lifting and examining the submarine we will get additional information that will allow us to get closer to an explanation for the causes of the catastrophe, which I think is of vital importance."

The actual lifting of the Kursk is scheduled for around 15 September.

If the plan succeeds, the Kursk will be towed to a specially-prepared dock at the Northern Fleet's base in Murmansk on 20 September.

(click here to return)