WASHINGTON — The United States, which has offered to help Russia try to rescue over 100 sailors from a disabled submarine, would in similar situations probably use a special craft to take the crew off the seabed, U.S. defense officials said Monday.
Moscow has not accepted Washington's offer of assistance in dealing with the submarine Kursk, which is at the bottom of the Barents Sea inside the Arctic Circle.
The United States has two Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRVs), the Avalon and the Mystic, that can conduct rescue operations in depths of up to 2,000 feet.
The Avalon is operable, while the Mystic is being recertified after maintenance, a Navy spokeswoman said.
Both were launched in the 1970s, but neither has carried out a rescue operation.
The optimum condition for a DSRV rescue would be for the submarine to be resting upright or to be tilted no more than 45 degrees to one side.
The rescue craft, which looks like a miniature submarine, would latch onto the disabled vessel's hatch, and crew members could transfer, with up to 24 being transported in one trip.
Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, said, "We would offer help of whatever (kind) the Russians would find helpful."
At the Russian sub's reported depth, sending the crew out through torpedo hatches is probably not possible because of the water pressure, Quigley said.
U.S. defense officials said the U.S. submarine rescue vehicle was probably compatible with the Russian sub.
The Russian sailors probably have battery-powered electricity and the means of replenishing oxygen for a certain amount of time, a retired naval officer involved with the U.S. submarine-rescue program told a news conference.
The Russian sub is probably running air conditioning from batteries power, the officer said.