Sunken Russian sub won't be raised until 2004

The derelict nuclear submarine that sank in the fish-rich Barents Sea while en route to a scrapyard cannot be raised until at least next year, a Russian naval chief said today.

The submarine K-159 sank on Saturday during a fierce storm while being towed to a port on the Kola Peninsula where its reactor was to be removed and dismantled and the rest of the ship scrapped.