Used Submarine Needs Rescue
British ships battled through rough weather on Wednesday to reach a Canadian navy submarine with 57 crewmembers on board that was drifting in the Atlantic after an electrical fire that officials said was more severe than originally thought.
A British frigate pulled alongside the HMCS Chicoutimi and dropped off medical staff to help treat crewmen who suffered from smoke inhalation.
"This was a major fire," said Commodore Tyrone Pile, commander of the Canadian Atlantic Fleet, adding the fire damaged the commanding officer's cabin and an electrical equipment room on a separate deck.
The vessel — one of four secondhand subs that Canada recently purchased from Britain — was drifting in heavy seas toward Ireland and it was unlikely its engines could be used to steer the boat to shore, Pile said.
The diesel-powered submarine, which was on its maiden voyage as a Canadian vessel, sent out a distress call Tuesday after an electrical fire broke out on board. Britain's Royal Air Force sent a search-and-rescue helicopter to the sub, some 115 miles northwest of Ireland.
Nine of the 57 crewmembers suffered minor smoke inhalation, Canadian officials said. They did not need to be evacuated, and the vessel surfaced safely, although its engines were shut down as a precaution.
The Chicoutimi, formerly called HMS Upholder, had been turned over to the Canadian navy on Saturday and was on its way from Britain to the Canadian port of Halifax.
Pile said the crew had sufficient provisions on board.
"Well, they've got emergency lighting on board, it is probably going to get a little bit cold, but they have sufficient blankets and other means to keep warm on board the submarine," Pile said.
Three British naval vessels and two tug boats planned to tow the sub to a Scottish naval base, a process that could take several days. Rescue efforts were hampered by 20 to 26 foot waves and winds of up to 65 kph, the Ministry of Defense said in London.
An Irish naval vessel, LE Roisin, tried to reach the sub Wednesday but turned back after being damaged in heavy seas, the Irish Defense Forces said.
The incident has highlighted concerns about the four secondhand subs that Canada recently purchased from Britain.
A deal for the four Victoria-class subs was reached in 1998, but the handover was delayed by escalating costs and technical problems. Critics said the subs have a checkered history, cost too much and were not in good shape.
The submarines originally were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the British navy. They were put in storage in 1994 when Britain decided to stick with an all-nuclear submarine force.
The Chicoutimi was the last of the subs to be delivered to Canada, but making them operational has been delayed by the need to repair cracks found in key valves after the vessels were brought out of storage.
The Times newspaper reported last week that the four submarines had been "dogged by serious malfunctions and corrosion."
BAE Systems, which was given the contract to prepare the submarines for the Canadian navy, declined to comment on the report.
Stephen Saunders, editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, said he doubted the sub had any serious flaw.
"There is not something inherently wrong with the class of submarines," he said. "They underwent extensive trials and if there were any material problems, they would have spotted them by now."
A number of submarine accidents in recent years have had deadly consequences.
Last August, an aged Russian nuclear submarine being towed to a scrapyard sank in a gale in the Barents Sea, and the defense minister said nine of the 10 crew aboard died in the accident.
The preceding May, a mechanical malfunction aboard a Chinese submarine killed a reported 70 crew members.
The USS Greeneville collided with a Japanese fishing vessel off Hawaii on Feb. 9, 2001, killing nine men and teen-age boys on the fishing boat. In August, the sub went aground while trying to enter the Saipan seaport in rough seas.
In the summer of 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk sank with 118 men on board.