Russia Says Some Crew Survived Fire on Vessel It Won’t Discuss

(Bloomberg) -- Russia said some crew members survived a fire that killed 14 sailors on a submersible research vessel, as the Kremlin refused to say whether a nuclear-powered submarine was involved.

The sailors who died in the country’s worst naval incident in more than a decade “behaved like heroes” to save other crew members and the vessel, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday on Russian state TV at the Northern Fleet’s Severomorsk base on the Barents Sea coast. After moving a civilian specialist to safety, they sealed off the affected section and stayed to extinguish the fire, he said.

The type of submersible involved is “absolutely classified” and Russia won’t disclose details of it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, in which he declined to say whether the vessel was nuclear-powered.

The vessel is linked to a secret nuclear submarine project known as Losharik, RBC news website reported, citing a person it didn’t identify. Russia said the sailors died from smoke inhalation after the fire broke out Monday on board the deep-water submersible that was exploring the sea bed in its territorial waters.

Norway has contacted Russian authorities, though “we haven’t seen any radioactive emissions or any kind of elevated levels” at monitoring stations, said Per Strand, director of nuclear safety and environmental protection at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority. “Our measurements, and the Russian measurements that we have access to, don’t show any signs of emissions from the submarine,” he said.

‘Unusual Vessel’

Seven of those killed were captains first rank and two were decorated Heroes of Russia, President Vladimir Putin said late Tuesday. “It’s an unusual vessel, we know, it’s a research vessel, the crew was highly professional,” he said, as he ordered Shoigu to go to Severomorsk, where the submersible was taken after the accident.

“A great tragedy has taken place,” Shoigu told a commission of inquiry meeting at the base. He didn’t specify how many of the vessel’s crew survived, while describing those on board as “unique military specialists.”

The fire was the worst incident since 20 people died on a Nerpa nuclear submarine in 2008. The Losharik submarine can operate at a depth of 6,000 meters (20,000 feet), according to RBC. The submarine has a titanium housing and had been used for research on the continental shelf, Izvestia newspaper reported in 2012.

Russia’s most serious post-Soviet naval disaster occurred early in Putin’s presidency, in August 2000, when 118 crew died on the Kursk nuclear submarine that sank in the Barents Sea after an explosion.

--With assistance from Sveinung Sleire.

To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net;Stepan Kravchenko in Moscow at skravchenko@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin, Torrey Clark

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