Swim Rescue Unlikely Another possible scenario for a submarine rescue, experts say, is for another submarine to move in close to the Kursk so the stranded crew could swim a short distance from the disabled sub to the rescue vessel. Submarine crews are said to practice such a maneuver, exiting through a torpedo tube and entering through the tower of the other ship. But at 450 feet, the estimated depth of the Kursk, such a maneuver is unlikely because of icy cold waters and extremely high water pressure, says retired Vice Adm. John J. Shanahan, CDIs director. They cant get out by themselves because the water pressures too great. Youre well beyond scuba-diving water depth there, he says. Their lungs would collapse. Simply hoisting the sub up from the surface also is not an option for saving the crew, says Shanahan, because the ship is so heavy and it could take too long to properly harness the ship for hoisting. Thats a big submarine were talking about. Its one of the largest submarines around. You just dont pick one of those babies up and bring it to the surface, he says.  Crew Could Survive for Days Kursk crew members could possibly stay alive for days, experts say. They have auxiliary power, which should provide them with heat and with air for perhaps one to two days, so they shouldnt be suffering too much physically at the moment, says Joanna Kidd, an analyst with the Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Also, the Russian navy says it has lowered a bell to the submarine, which is providing fresh air and power from the surface to the crew. There is the possibility that the two nuclear reactors on the ship were damaged and have leaked deadly radiation. Kuroyedov, the Russian navy chief, said today the submarine apparently was damaged in a collision while taking part in military exercises, but did not say what it collided with. Later, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass news reported that preliminary results of an external observation of the submarine using deep water apparatus did not support the collision theory. Paul Beaver, a spokesman for the Janes defense publications, says the fact that the sub was taken to the sea floor instead of surfacing could mean the damage may have occurred somewhere other than the subs nuclear reactors. Theres no reason to believe at the moment that theres any danger from the submarine because we believe the fault is with part of the propulsion system outside the nuclear loop, he says. In the movie Hunt for Red October, the submarine there was surfaced because they had a radiation leak because you need fresh air in that situation, he says. If you dont have a radiation leak you tend to put the submarine on the bottom to work on the problems youve got.  U.S. Capable of Conducting Rescue The U.S. Navy currently has one available rescue submersible ship, the Mystic, designed to rescue 24 people at a time from disabled submarines. The way the U.S. Navy would do it is we would lower a vehicle which clamps on to the main hatch, in the conning tower or aft of the submarine. It clamps on, they equalize the pressure, and then open the hatch, says Shanahan. He says, however, that the U.S. rescue equipment may not be directly compatible with the Russian submarine. When the United States designed its rescue vehicles, it gave foreign navies a template for designing their submarine hatches so that U.S. rescue vehicles could hook up to them. But its not clear whether the Russians used the American design for their Oscars. If called upon, the Mystic could be flown from San Diego by C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft to a port near the accident scene, and then ferried to the scene by a transport ship or a mother submarine. The United States has offered through various channels to provide any help to the rescue effort. By this evening, however, Russia had not asked for assistance, White House and Pentagon officials said. The Navy has not yet received any tasking at this time from the Joint Chiefs or the State Department, which is where it would come from, Navy spokeswoman Lt. Meghan Mariman said late this afternoon.  For the rest of the days top world stories, click here, to our International News page.  Keep up on the latest breaking developments on this story and the rest of Europe by clicking here to our Raw News page.
- It would be technologically possible, although difficult, to rescue the estimated 100 or more seamen trapped inside a Russian submarine on the floor of the Barents Sea, military experts say.