MOSCOW. June 18 (Interfax) - Search and rescue forces are practicing the search for a submarine in distress and the provision of assistance to it in the Barents Sea, Russia's Northern Fleet reported.
"The exercise is routinely held in Eina Bay near the Sredny Peninsula in the Motovsky Gulf in the Barents Sea. Taking part in the exercise are ten warships and support vessels, including the Kaluga diesel-electric submarine playing the role of a submarine lying on the floor in distress," the Northern Fleet's press service said.
Involved in the exercise are also the Mikhail Rudnitsky rescue vessel with an AS-34 autonomous deep-sea rescue vehicle on board, the Nikolai Chiker rescue tug, the Nikolai Timoshenko hydrographic boat, and other vessels.
"Northern Fleet Chief of Staff Vice Adm. Vladimir Grishechkin is in command of the exercise in the area where it is taking place. For safety reasons, all underwater operations and training episodes involving people are being practiced at depths of no more than 40 meters," it said.
The rescuers will practice the raising of the submarine by supplying high-pressure air, it said.