The Kursk submarine arrives back in Murmansk today having been lifted from the seabed by a team led by Dutch heavylift specialist Mammoet.
The Russian nuclear submarine sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea on 12 August 2000 after two massive on-board explosions. All 118 crew were killed.
The vessel was finally lifted to the surface on Monday, after a 15-hour lifting operation using 26 steel cables that had been attached to holes drilled in the hull. The Giant 4 recovery barge, owned by Smit, Mammoet’s partner in the project, pulled the submarine to the surface using massive hydraulic strand jacks more usually seen on the Mammoet Sliding Gantry device. Once lifted, the barge dragged the submarine home to Russia.
Under the original schedule the lifting operation was due to be completed by 15 September, but poor weather and technical problems pushed back the completion date.
The vessel was transported at four nautical miles per hour to the port of Rolyakovo, near Murmansk, Russia. Although the submarine arrive in Rolyakovo today (Wednesday), the docking operation may take time. It may prove easier to wait for a weekend high tide, Northern Fleet Commander Admiral Vyacheslav Popov was reported as saying.
The bow, which held 18 torpedoes and more than 20 cruise missiles, has been separated from the rest of the sunken vessel and will remain on the seabed until next year.
