Remember the Kursk? They've Just Raised It Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit REMEMBER THE KURSK? [The US doesn't want the Russians to grow too nervous about the Bush Crusade. Over the weekend, in an effort to strengthen the US's rush to blame a Ukranian missile for the Russian plane explosion, some of the more ignorant members of the US press were actually claiming, as fact, that the Russian sub Kursk had sunk because of "poor maintenance" in the Russian military. Sabotage, of course, was not mentioned -- massive explosions in nuclear subs just happen all by themselves, like infernos raging in TV towers, from poor Russian maintenance. Nor is "terrorism" being given credit for any recent mysterious disasters, from the Russian airplane to the anthrax panic in Florida. Strange, when at the same time the US Government is doing everything it can to make its citizens believe they are all in imminent danger. All this simultaneous Chicken-Little wing-flapping and soothing terrorism denial seems contradictory. But perhaps the idea is to make people fear terrorism that doesn't happen -- and deny terrorist authorship of what does happen, thereby salvaging their claim that their police state can Protect Amerikkka.] http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1584000/1584407.stm Monday, 8 October, 2001, 16:08 GMT 17:08 UK KURSK RAISED FROM SEA BED President Putin promised to recover the wreck The Russian nuclear submarine, the Kursk, has been lifted from the bed of the Barents Sea and is heading towards shore. The vessel, which sank last year killing all 118 people on board, docked safely with the giant salvage barge at about 1500 GMT, after a 15-hour lifting process. The barge pulled anchor at 0700 GMT, when the submarine was still below the surface, and began drifting slowly. It is now heading towards shore at a speed of three knots on a journey expected to take two days if the current good weather holds. The lifting, delayed by bad weather and mechanical problems, had originally been scheduled for mid-September and the approaching Arctic winter raised concerns that the operation might not be completed this year. Radiation 'normal' "The emotion was very great when we heard this news, because it means this enormous labour by divers, sailors and technical experts, has not been in vain," the head of Russia's Northern Fleet, Vice-Admiral Mikhail Motsak said. Divers have spent the past seven days attaching 26 massive cables from the Giant-4 barge to holes cut in the hull of the wreck. The Dutch salvage company Mammoet said the submarine had been less deeply embedded in the seabed than thought. "The vessel is completely loose now and free from mud. It came off quite easily, easier than we expected," Mammoet spokeswoman Larissa van Seumeren said. A force of 9,000 tonnes was required to raise the wreck, another Mammoet spokesman said. Final hurdle Divers have been inspecting the operation every hour - checking radiation levels and the angle between the barge and the submarine. There have been fears of a possible radiation leak but levels are still said to be normal. "The only thing we could fear is bad weather," said Northern Fleet spokesman Vladimir Navrotsky. To reduce the risk of a dangerous accident during the lifting process, the salvage team earlier cut off the badly damaged bow section, containing the torpedo bay. It had been feared that the section might otherwise fall off during the operation. Hunting for clues The Kursk will first be taken to a floating dock at Roslyakovo, outside Murmansk. After initial investigations and the removal of cruise missiles, the wreck will be towed to nearby Snezhnogorsk. Investigators will search for clues as to what caused the catastrophic explosions on 12 August last year. The Russian navy initially blamed the sinking on a collision with a Western vessel. A subsequent investigation suggested the cause was more likely to have been an accident in the torpedo bay. Russian President Vladimir Putin came in for severe criticism for his handling of the crisis, after failing to break off a holiday and return to Moscow. He later promised to ensure that the remains of the sailors' bodies were returned to their families at any cost. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nyteeu-10.08.01-16:22:51-16179