Russian Sub Rescue In Works

Rescue Vessel Attempting To Tow Disabled Sub To Shallower Waters

(CBS/AP)  Russian naval rescuers have hooked a mini-submarine stranded with seven people far under the Pacific Ocean and are trying to tow it to safety, the commander of the Pacific Fleet said on Russian television Saturday.

“We have hooked onto the whole system that our bathyscaph is in,” Adm. Viktor Fyodorov told the NTV television channel by telephone from the Russian Far East. Fyodorov had made a similar statement several hours earlier, which was disputed by other naval officials, but the latest appeared stronger.

The submarine became trapped Thursday in a fishing net some 600 feet under water off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Fyodorov said the submarine could be towed into shallower water, where divers could be able to descend and free the trapped sailors, within several hours. He said there was enough oxygen to keep those aboard alive for at least 18 hours — although hours earlier he had asserted that the air supply would last into Monday.

In case the Russian rescue vehicle cannot snare the submarine, the U.S. is sending a high-powered dive vehicle called a Super Scorpio from San Diego to Russia via plane. The unmanned vehicle can reach depths of up to 5,000 feet and is equipped with high-powered lights, sonar and video cameras, said Capt. Matt Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet in Honolulu.

U.S. Navy deep submergence unit Commander Kent Van Horn said the Scorpio is also equipped with manipulator arms that can cut the cables or nets that are entrapping the submarine, CBS News reports. He said the U.S. Navy was anxious to get the plane in the air and is eager to help the Russians.

"These are fellow submariners that are stuck in the bottom, and that's the approach we all take," Van Horn said.

The Deep Submergence Unit team is scheduled to leave San Diego's North Island Naval Air Station on an Air Force C-5 transport plane at 1:45 p.m., the Pentagon said.

The Super Scorpio then will be transported by truck and loaded on a Russian ship before making its descent to the stricken vessel.

The Russian sub's propeller became entangled in a fishing net Thursday, Russian navy Capt. Igor Dygalo said on state-run Rossiya television. The accident occurred in Beryozovaya Bay, about 50 miles south of Kamchatka's capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, officials said.

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

The confusion over the air supply apparently stemmed from the fact that there were seven people aboard the vessel, which normally carries a crew of three.

Fleet spokesman Capt. Alexander Kosolapov said contact had been made with the sailors, who were not hurt.