By Kirill Vasilenko Vremya Novostei, August 21, 2001, p. 2
The Kursk is to be cut into several pieces. When everything is ready, specialists expect that the process of raising the Kursk to the surface will take 10-12 hours. According to the initial plans, which no one has yet revised, this is supposed to happen in mid-September.
Vyacheslav Zakharov, a spokesman for the Mammoet company, says work on the Kursk resumed last night. A storm in the Barents Sea delayed the operation by only 24 hours. Divers are now drilling holes in the hull, in order to attach the submarine to the pontoons afterwards.
At first, all cutting operations were supposed to be completed by Wednesday or Thursday. “We expect them to be over by Saturday or Sunday now,” Zakharov said. Plans for the salvage operation call for 27 holes to be cut, and 16 of these are done.
The Kursk is to be cut into several pieces. The first compartment will be left on the seabed. This part of the operation will be carried out from the AMT Carrier, which hasn’t left harbor due to the storm. According to Zakharov, “the special equipment, colloquially known as the saw, has been modified.” The cutting gear will be positioned by divers, but the cutting itself will be done by remote control. When everything is ready, specialists expect that the process of raising the Kursk to the surface will take 10-12 hours.
According to the initial plans, which no one has yet revised, this is supposed to happen in mid-September. The stern will be lifted first. Three days after it is raised to the surface, the Kursk will be towed into Roslyakovo.