Russian Mini-Submarine Trapped by Nets on Seabed

Breaking news from the Far East.

From ABC News Online:

A Japanese ship is racing to help the crew of a Russian mini-submarine trapped on the seabed.

The Priz mini-submarine was carrying out a routine exercise in the Bay of Kamchatka in far eastern Russia when it ran into trouble.

Military officials say its propeller is tangled in fishing nets.

"The net has wrapped around the propeller and the vessel has got caught in the net's anchor wire," Navy chief Alexander Dygalo said on Russian television.

Russian Priz Mini-Submarine
The boat is about 40 feet long and carries a crew of seven. It's at a depth of about 600 feet. Current estimates are that the crew has from one to five days' worth of oxygen.


[Update 0200 EDT, 8/07/05]

From CNN International:

A Russian mini-submarine that had been trapped at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean since Thursday surfaced Sunday, and all seven of the crew members on board are alive and in satisfactory condition, officials said.

Authorities had been concerned about the amount of oxygen available to the crew after the mini-submarine became entangled and trapped on the ocean floor, nearly 190 meters (625 feet) below the surface in Berezovaya Bay -- 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on Russia's far eastern coast.

"I would like to thank our British colleagues for their aid in saving the crew," said Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy head of the Russian navy's headquarters, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax. "The crew's condition is satisfactory."

Following a request for assistance from Russia, U.S. and British rescuers had responded to the scene.

A British crew lowered into the water an unmanned rescue vehicle called a Scorpio 45, which cut the items pinning the sub underwater.

The sub was raised about 0320 GMT.