[Mb-civic] CBC News - BRITAIN THANKED FOR SAVING 7 TRAPPED RUSSIANS

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BRITAIN THANKED FOR SAVING 7 TRAPPED RUSSIANS
WebPosted Sun Aug  7 13:02:39 2005

---Russian military officials have thanked their British counterparts for
coming to the rescue of seven men who had been trapped underwater in the
north Pacific for three days, their air supply slowly running out.

All seven men appeared to be in good health as they emerged from their
mini-submarine at 4:26 p.m. local time Sunday.

"We have seen in deeds, not in words, what the brotherhood of the sea
means," Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said after the rescue.

"I can only thank our English colleagues for their joint work and the
help they gave in order to complete this operation within the time we had
available – that is, before the oxygen reserves ran out," said Rear
Adm. Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy head of the navy's general staff.

The United States, Japan and Britain all rushed rescue equipment to the
scene off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula after hearing of the underwater
drama involving six crew members and a representative of the company that
had built the AS-28 vessel.

It was a remote-controlled British diving apparatus named the Super
Scorpio that eventually freed the vessel, allowing it to be brought to
the surface.

The head of the British rescue team, Commander Ian Riches, told Reuters
that the men had less than six hours of air remaining at that point.

The small Priz vessel became entangled in metal debris and fishing nets
on the ocean floor during a training exercise Thursday, launching a
desperate race against time to save those on board.

As time wore on, those on board donned thermal suits to cope with
temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius as the vessel's electrical systems
were shut down to conserve energy and oxygen 190 metres below the
ocean's surface.

Naval officers had given varying estimates of how long the men could
survive, ranging from Saturday night to Monday local time.

At home, their families awaited word of their condition, fearing a repeat
of the August 2000 disaster in which all 118 people aboard the disabled
Russian nuclear submarine Kursk died after rescue efforts failed.

Yelena Milashevsky, the wife of the sub's commander, Lt. Vyacheslav
Milashevsky, said she "jumped for joy" when she got word he had
been rescued.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised an investigation into
the mishap.

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