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"The devices attaching the pontoons to the sub were welded to the rust-eaten hull which in some places was as weak as foil." Captain Second Class Sergei Zhemchuzhnov
K-159 Court Session Behind Closed Doors
Moscow December 25, 2003 (Interfax) - A January 12 court session to look into the sinking of the K-159 nuclear submarine (NATO November Class) will take place behind closed doors, a spokesman for the Northern Fleet military court told Interfax in a telephone interview on Thursday.
The spokesman said that the defendant, Admiral Gennady Suchkov, was relieved of duties as Northern Fleet commander following the incident in the Barents Sea in August.
"As the case materials contain information constituting a state secret, the case has been classified and the trial will take place behind closed doors," he said.
The K-159 submarine separated from a towboat while being transported to the town of Polyarny for disposal and sank, killing nine crewmembers. One sailor survived.
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Background info on K-159 sinking
K-159 doomed by expectations of Western funding
The K-159, a Russian first generation November class submarine, was doomed when it set sail, towed by a tugboat from the Northern Fleet's semi-abandoned Gremikha Base, on August 29th, according to the officer responsible for the failed operation.
The K-159, a Russian first generation November class submarine, was doomed when it set sail, towed by a tugboat from the Northern Fleet's semi-abandoned Gremikha Base, on August 29th.
Kudrik, 2003-10-18 01] Base area to dismantlement sites was approved by the commander of the Northern Fleet in the spring of 2003," Zhemchuzhnov said. "In accordance with the plan, we were given the task of transferring 16 retired nuclear submarines during the summer navigation [period] from April to October. The K-159 was the 13th submarine we were transferring from Ostrovnoi [a town in the Gremikha Base area] to a dismantlement site."
In his interview, Zhemchuzhnov explained the high tempo of the towing operation by the fact that "there was big money involved [and] earmarked for dismantlement."
"I think this money was to be swallowed as quickly as possible, and reports about the cleanup of 'nuclear garbage' from the bases of the Northern Fleet were to be sent to Moscow," Zhemchuzhnov said.
The mass-scale operation did not go as expected. All 16 of the non-strategic submarines moored in Gremikha had already been rusting there for the past 10 to 15 years. Many of them had leaky ballast tanks—mechanisms that control the depth of a submarine's submersion.
Zhemchuzhnov said that in September 2002, when the first submarine was being transferred from Gremikha to a shipyard on the Kola Peninsula, two pontoons located on its stern broke loose, even though the sea was calm. The submarine eventually arrived safely at its destination. The incident, however, failed to send any wake-up calls to Northern Fleet commanders.
Donor countries must insist on evaluating the projects they are funding from the point of view of the hazards the implementation of these projects could cause.
Western Donors Must Ensure Safe Spending of Their Money
Retired rusting hulks of submarines like the K-159 are indeed an extremely urgent issue. But it is equally important to ensure that donor nations exercise greater control over the dismantling and nuclear and radiation safety projects that their funding grants facilitate.
"Western donors cannot simply give financial support without reviewing each stage of the process they are funding—for example the process of dismantling a nuclear submarine," Alexander Nikitin, former submarine captain first class and currently chairman of Bellona's St. Petersburg branch, said shortly after the K-159's accident.
Donor countries must insist on evaluating the projects they are funding from the point of view of the hazards the implementation of these projects could cause. Whether the observed lack of project oversight comes from the donors' naivete or their unwillingness to delve into Russia's infamous bureaucracy, such neglect can have dramatic effects. According to Nikitin, "if international donors pay for operations that lead to such incidents like the K-159 sinking, then it would be better if these international donors don't give any money at all."
Norway pioneered the efforts of the international community to fund the dismantlement of non-strategic submarines and this summer signed a contract with Russian shipyards to dismantle two Victor II class submarines. Both submarines had been located at Gremikha and towed to a dismantlement site for destruction.
Norway was, in effect, trapped when it paid for the dismantlement—and specifically the dangerous towing—of the vessels for the simple reason that it had not properly investigated the contract from the point of view of safe submarine destruction procedures. The money was simply transferred to the concerned shipyards that hire contractors of their choosing to carry out various aspects of the work. When asked to comment on this apparent oversight, officials from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said somewhat evasively that it was "a Russian matter."
To see all of the K-159 photos being readied for sea, click here
Edited By TMSmalley on 1072813810
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