Saturday, August 06, 2005
No good news yet on Russian sub - Good news update!
Cmon, rescue people, get your act together...
Update:
As probably everyone has heard by now: They made it!
[I can imagine how they felt when they opened the hatch and climbed out.]
The managing director of the British firm involved in the rescue - Rumic - told the BBC the operation had taken several hours.
"There were a lot of fishing nets which we had to cut away, but there were no steel cables, although some of it did look like steel. Initial reports could have suggested there were steel rather than nylon nets," Roger Chapman told the BBC.
"But it was a fairly long operation, with quite a lot of cutting, but eventually when most of it was freed, the submarine blew a ballast tank and came free and shot to the surface."
The UK robot craft which saved seven Russian sailors stranded on the Pacific Ocean floor was operated by a civilian team used to tricky marine operations.
The remote-controlled Scorpio 45 is operated for the Ministry of Defence by Cumbria-based firm James Fisher Rumic.
Its "submarine rescue assets" are on standby to free stricken vessels, or to keep endangered subs supplied with air and other necessities until rescue.
The Scorpio is about the size of a double bed, and carries cameras, sonar systems, propulsion systems, hydraulic power, electrical power, pumps, cutting equipment, and also has a manipulator arm.
The unmanned craft is used in situations that are too dangerous or too deep to send divers.
It can operate down to depth of 925m, with the depth being determined by the length of its umbilical cable.
It is fitted with three cameras and cable cutting equipment to cut steel cable up to 70mm diameter.
Speaking from the Rumic headquarters in Dalton-in-Furness, managing director Roger Chapman said that the Scorpio team the firm had sent to Russia was always kept at 12 hours notice for mobilisation.
It also attended the scene of the stricken Russian submarine Kursk in 2000 but on that occasion was not given permission to intervene.
The quick Russian request for international help was in stark contrast to the failed operation to save the Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea after an explosion on board; 118 sailors perished in the submarine, at least 23 of them living a number of hours until the oxygen on the craft ran out.
“Taking advantage of this opportunity, I would like to express gratitude to our sailors, particularly our Pacific Fleet sailors, and everybody who extended a helping hand to us — primarily of course the British navy, the naval forces of the United States of America and the naval forces of Japan,” Interfax quoted Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying on Sunday.
Pavel Felgengauer, a Moscow defense analyst, said the decision to ask for help was easier because unlike the Kursk, the mini-sub holds no military secrets.
[So the Russian government has made a proper fanfare about how thankful they are for the international cooperation exercised in the rescue operation. Sad to think that none of this fanfare would be there today if this mini-sub had been another vessel with military secrets.]
.
Update:
As probably everyone has heard by now: They made it!
[I can imagine how they felt when they opened the hatch and climbed out.]
The managing director of the British firm involved in the rescue - Rumic - told the BBC the operation had taken several hours.
"There were a lot of fishing nets which we had to cut away, but there were no steel cables, although some of it did look like steel. Initial reports could have suggested there were steel rather than nylon nets," Roger Chapman told the BBC.
"But it was a fairly long operation, with quite a lot of cutting, but eventually when most of it was freed, the submarine blew a ballast tank and came free and shot to the surface."
The UK robot craft which saved seven Russian sailors stranded on the Pacific Ocean floor was operated by a civilian team used to tricky marine operations.
The remote-controlled Scorpio 45 is operated for the Ministry of Defence by Cumbria-based firm James Fisher Rumic.
Its "submarine rescue assets" are on standby to free stricken vessels, or to keep endangered subs supplied with air and other necessities until rescue.
The Scorpio is about the size of a double bed, and carries cameras, sonar systems, propulsion systems, hydraulic power, electrical power, pumps, cutting equipment, and also has a manipulator arm.
The unmanned craft is used in situations that are too dangerous or too deep to send divers.
It can operate down to depth of 925m, with the depth being determined by the length of its umbilical cable.
It is fitted with three cameras and cable cutting equipment to cut steel cable up to 70mm diameter.
Speaking from the Rumic headquarters in Dalton-in-Furness, managing director Roger Chapman said that the Scorpio team the firm had sent to Russia was always kept at 12 hours notice for mobilisation.
It also attended the scene of the stricken Russian submarine Kursk in 2000 but on that occasion was not given permission to intervene.
The quick Russian request for international help was in stark contrast to the failed operation to save the Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea after an explosion on board; 118 sailors perished in the submarine, at least 23 of them living a number of hours until the oxygen on the craft ran out.
“Taking advantage of this opportunity, I would like to express gratitude to our sailors, particularly our Pacific Fleet sailors, and everybody who extended a helping hand to us — primarily of course the British navy, the naval forces of the United States of America and the naval forces of Japan,” Interfax quoted Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying on Sunday.
Pavel Felgengauer, a Moscow defense analyst, said the decision to ask for help was easier because unlike the Kursk, the mini-sub holds no military secrets.
[So the Russian government has made a proper fanfare about how thankful they are for the international cooperation exercised in the rescue operation. Sad to think that none of this fanfare would be there today if this mini-sub had been another vessel with military secrets.]
.
