A team of investigators led by Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov boarded the wreck of the Kursk nuclear submarine on Tuesday and made a preliminary examination of the vessel's exterior.
The team of senior prosecution and navy officials spent about 20 minutes examining the surface of the wreck, which was raised from the bed of the Barents Sea earlier this month and transported to the Roslyakovo dock near Murmansk last week.
Before climbing up the ladder to the Kursk's deck, the officials took off their hats and observed one minute of silence to mourn the submarine's 118 crew members who were killed when the vessel sank during an exercise in August 2000, Russian TV showed.
Navy Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov told Interfax he walked along the deck as far as Compartment 4. It was impossible to go any further because the greater part of the vessel was still underwater, he said.
Kuroyedov said at a subsequent news conference in Murmansk that investigators would be able to go inside submarine in two to four days, a necessary time to fully drain the Kursk.
After that, holes will be bored in hulls of the fifth and sixth compartments for examination of the reactor area, he said.
The Kursk was raised from the 100-meter-deep seabed earlier this month in an unprecedented salvage operation to help investigation of the tragedy and allow for proper burial of the sailors' remains.
A mobile forensic laboratory where the bodies of the Kursk submarine's crew will be identified has been set up in the Northern Fleet's hospital in Severomorsk, Murmansk region, Interfax reported.
Military experts alone will perform the job and their findings will not be made public until all the bodies have been properly identified.
Besides retrieving the bodies, experts face another two risky tasks to unload the submarine's twin nuclear reactors and 22 Granite cruise missiles on board.
Ustinov said he expected find new evidence in the wreck, including "journals, notes by the duty officers about the exercises and notes left by the sailors."
But the submarine's front compartment, which was mangled in the explosion and was left behind when the wreck was lifted, is seen as likely to contain most of the information.
"Without examining the bow of the boat, it is impossible to completely clarify the cause of the disaster," Ustinov said.
Russian officials said they intended to retrieve the first part mainly on their own efforts next summer.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said Tuesday the lifting plan would be ready by the end of November and the salvage operation will be leaded by the rescue service of the Russian Navy.
Judged by the fact that the Kursk sank as a result of strong explosion, many experts said the initial explosion was set off by an internal malfunction. Other versions also include a collision with another vessel or a World War II mine.
( Xinhua News Agency 10/24/2001)
