MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax-AVN) - After two fragments of the Kursk submarine's first compartment are retrieved from the Barents Sea bottom, the remaining fragments will be destroyed by blast, Northern Fleet Commander Admiral Gennady Suchkov said on Friday.
Only the air balloon of the exploded torpedo and pieces of the torpedo tube will be lifted, Suchkov told Interfax-Military News Agency. "There is no need to recover other blast-damaged pieces of the nuclear submarine's first compartment for they will say nothing about the causes of the Kursk's disaster," he said.
"The air balloon and a piece of the torpedo tube are a different matter. When these fragments are lifted, the scenario of the tragedy should be fully clear," Suchkov noted.
He said that the recovery operation was to begin in June.
A gushy northern wind is blowing in the Barents Sea, which makes it impossible for vessels of the fleet engaged in the operation to work on recovery of the Kursk's fragments, the commander said. "The wind will start blowing from the south in early June, which will make it possible to begin the operation," he said.
According to data available to the fleet command, remains of the submarine lying at a depth of 108 meters since August 12, 2000 are covered with a thick layer of mud and dirt. "A thorough surveillance and clearance of the section's fragments subject to recovery is necessary first. Their raising with the help of special grippers can begin only after that," Suchkov said.
"Unlike it happened during the submarine's recovery, no work related to the recovery of fragments of its first section will involve divers," the commander stressed.
The Kursk sank during a Northern Fleet exercise in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000, killing the 118 people aboard.