U.S. to Help Rescue Russian Mini-Sub
By YEVGENY KULKOV
Associated Press Writer
Chicago Tribune/Associated Press
Published August 5, 2005, 8:07 AM CDT

<excerpt>

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- A Russian mini-submarine with seven sailors aboard snagged on a fishing net and was stuck on the Pacific floor with only enough air for the seamen to survive one more day, Russia's navy said.

The U.S. Navy is rushing an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle from San Diego to Russia to help in the rescue efforts, the Navy said.

The Russian sub's propeller became entangled in a fishing net Thursday, and the craft is stuck 625 feet below the surface, Russian navy Capt. Igor Dygalo said on state-run Rossiya television.

The accident occurred in Beryozovaya Bay, approximately 100 miles south of Kamchatka's capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, officials said.

"There is air remaining on the underwater apparatus for a day -- one day," he said at about 6 a.m. EDT. "The operation continues. We have a day, and intensive, active measures will be taken to rescue the AS-28 vessel and the people aboard."

Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Alexander Kosolapov said contact had been made with the sailors, who were not hurt, and authorities were preparing to send down a similar vessel to assess the situation.

Dygalo also said Britain was providing "rescue means," but he did not specify what those were.

The mini-sub, called an AS-28, was too deep to allow the sailors to swim to the surface on their own or for divers to reach it, officials said.

The accident occurred early Thursday after the mini-submarine was launched from a rescue ship during a combat training exercise, Kosolapov said.

Two surface ships were sweeping the area with nets in the hope of wresting the trapped vessel from the sea floor, adding that the rescue effort would continue into the night, Dygalo said.

Russia appealed to the United States and Japan for assistance, the Interfax news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov as saying.