Two dead as Russian sub sinks in Barents Sea

A Russian nuclear-powered K-159 submarine sank in a fierce late summer storm in the Barents Sea today, killing at least two of the 10-member crew, the Defence Ministry said. No weapons were aboard the sub.

The nuclear reactor of the 40-year-old sub was shut down at the time the vessel sank about 4am (3am Irish time) about three nautical miles northwest of Kildin Island just before it would have headed into the Kola Bay, the Defence Ministry said.

One sailor has been rescued, the bodies of two dead crew members were found and the fate of seven others were unknown, the ministry said.

It was not immediately clear how the sailor who was alive managed to survive, although the sub was not underwater at the time of the sinking.

On August 12, 2000, an explosion shook the Kursk nuclear submarine during exercises, sending the vessel to the Barents Sea floor. All 118 men on board were killed, and that tragedy shed light on the troubles of the Russian navy in the post-Soviet era.

Unlike during the Kursk tragedy, when the government failed to keep the public informed and reacted slowly to the sinking, the Defence Ministry quickly moved to confirm the sinking, apparently in part to avoid the public relations disaster of the Kursk.

Russia has about 200 decommissioned submarines, which stain harbours and pose an increasing environmental risk.

The K-159 had been decommissioned on July 16, 1989. According to Danish experts, the K-159 is a November class submarine that could carry two nuclear reactors and 86 crew. Submarines of this class entered service between 1958-1963, according to Jane’s Fighting Ships. The submarine was designed to carry low-yield nuclear torpedoes.

Just two days ago, on August 28, the sub was being towed on four floating hulls from its base in the town of Gremikha about 218 miles east of the Kola Peninsula to a plant in the naval town of Polarnye for the nuclear fuel to unloaded and for the vessel to be scrapped.

The hulls were ripped off the towed sub on Friday night during a fierce storm in the Barents Seam, and the submarine sank in waters 170 yards deep, the ministry confirmed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Sardinia for meetings with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. It was unclear whether he had been informed of the sub’s sinking.