U.S. relief crew on way to Russian sub
Russian commander says oxygen can last through weekend
[Ed: details have been very sketchy thru the day, on this incident]
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. Navy crew and two robotic submersibles left for Russia's Pacific coast Friday in a race against time to rescue seven Russian sailors trapped in a mini-sub, U.S. Naval officials said.
Britain and Japan are also sending rescue missions. But it is unclear exactly how much time the efforts have.
According to Adm. Victor Federov, commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet, the sailors had enough oxygen to last through Monday. Earlier, another Russian naval official said only 24 hours of oxygen remained.
The drama started Thursday when the propeller of the AS-28 mini-submarine became entangled in fishing nets or cable during a military exercise off the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia.
The mishap left the sub nearly 625 feet down on the Pacific floor in Beryozovaya Bay, 43 miles south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the southern end of the peninsula. (Full story)
Interfax reported Federov as saying early Saturday that the sub had been dragged 100 meters closer to the coast in an effort to get it to shallower water.
The sailors could not swim to the surface nor could divers reach the vessel because it is too deep at 190 meters (623 feet) below the surface, said Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo.
Crew members understand their situation and are not panicking, Dygalo said.
They were asked to lower their physical activity level, save electricity, and try to keep themselves warm. He said crew members had enough food and water for five days.
U.S. Navy officials decided at a high-level overnight meeting in Hawaii to send a contingent of at least 30 U.S. sailors and two robotic unmanned submersibles called Super Scorpios to the site, Navy officials said.
An Air Force C-5 carrying the sailors and the rescue vehicles left Friday afternoon from the San Diego North Island Naval Station in California, the Navy said.
The crew and the vehicles will be taken to a Russian surface ship, from which the crew will drop the Super Scorpios over the side.
The underwater rescue vehicles -- equipped with video cameras, lights and agile robotic arms that can cut up to one inch of steel cable -- will be piloted remotely and used to untangle the mini-sub from the netting, the Navy said.
The arms, which are called manipulators, are so dexterous that they can pick up a dime from the ocean floor, said Capt. Jacque Yost, Navy public affairs officer at the San Diego station.
The British Defense Ministry said it has dispatched a six-man crew and a remote-controlled submersible by an RAF C-17 transport. The Scorpio 45 has three cameras and cable-cutting equipment.
Japan said it had sent a vessel carrying submarine rescue gear and three other ships, but they are unlikely to arrive at the scene until early next week.
Russia's swift request for assistance from the U.S. and Japanese navies contrasts with its handling of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster of August 12, 2000.
In that accident, almost exactly five years ago, 118 seamen died after trying to survive for hours in the icy waters of the Barents Sea.
Some sailors survived for hours following explosions on board, but oxygen later ran out. Russian authorities were criticized for their handling of the crisis.
CNN's Barbara Starr, Nastya Anashkina, Carey Bodenheimer and Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report.
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