MOSCOW. Oct 13 (Interfax-AVN) - The August 30 accident with the K-159 nuclear-powered submarine that sank when towed to the scrapping site happened, among other reasons, due to poor technical support of the operation, Captain 2nd Rank (Commander) Sergei Zhemchuzhnov, then the officer in charge, said in an interview with the Kommersant daily, published on Monday.
"First, the devices attaching the pontoons to the sub were welded to the rust-eaten hull which in some places was as strong as metal paper. The 200-tonne SSP-200 pontoons supporting the sub were designed not for towing but for salvaging and, in addition, were very old - made in the 40s," the officer said.
"They consistently bled down air pressure, and the K-159 crew was assigned to pressurize them every five hours to keep the sub afloat. To that end the sub had a special pressure column with a hose for each of the four pontoons. The fore starboard one was absolutely wrecked, and it had to be pressurized even more frequently. Hardly ant structure made of such elements can be considered reliable," he also said.
According to Zhemchuzhnov, he is not a professional shipmaster and therefore relied on experts from the military research institute who designed the operation and on those who checked the readiness.
He also said that the K-159 was the 13th sub towed from the base in Gremikha to the scrapping site. All in all 16 SSNs were to be towed during the summer shipping season, he added.
He emphasized that his case was not the first time that a pontoon went loose.
"The aft pair of pontoons disengaged at the entry to the Kola Bay in previous September as we pontoon-towed the K-21 SSN from the Ostrovnoye to Nerpa shipyard, and there was no storm whatsoever," he said.
The K-159 towed for reactor neutralization and subsequent scrapping sank on the night August 30 in the Barents Sea, 3nm northwest off Kildin Island at a depth of more than 200m as pontoons went off from the hull during the storm. The crew were all killed except for Senior Lieutenant (First Lieutenant) Maxim Tsibulsky.
Zhemchuzhnov is charged with violating navigation rules, which resulted in casualties.