Fire on Russian submersible vessel kills at least 14 sailors

Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelled meetings yesterday to hold talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu after news of the submarine fire broke. Photo / AP

At least 14 Russian sailors died from smoke inhalation after a fire broke out on a deep-sea research vessel in the country's northern waters, the Defense Ministry said yesterday, raising questions over the role of the highly secretive nuclear-powered craft.

The fire took place on Monday while crew on the craft were conducting bathymetric surveys, or topographic measurements, of the seabed near Russia's Severomorsk base in the Barents Sea, the ministry said.

"The causes of the accident are yet to be identified. The navy's commander in chief is carrying out the investigation," Russian state media cited the ministry as saying in a statement.

President Vladimir Putin cancelled plans to hold a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Kremlin spokesman said, but declined to go into detail.

Russian media outlets, citing military sources, identified the vessel as a nuclear-powered AS-12 Losharik submersible, which belongs to an underwater intelligence research unit. The craft was recovered and returned to base.

The Defense Ministry did not indicate how many crew members were aboard when the fire occurred, but the vessel can hold up to 25 people.

Differing from a submarine, a submersible is usually smaller and operates with some form of support. A submarine is completely autonomous. The Losharik can operate at depths of more than 18,000 feet and can be used for special operations.

NATO has expressed concern over an increase in apparent Russian undersea activity around data cables in the North Atlantic. The military alliance worries that vessels such as the Losharik are working the ocean floor, allowing Russia to potentially sever or tap the cables.

There was no immediate statement from NATO on Monday's undersea incident. The Barents Sea is north of the Russian and Norwegian coasts.

Four years ago, Pentagon officials raised the alarm over the Russian spy ship Yantar, which is equipped with deep-sea submersibles, after it cruised near the East Coast on its way to Cuba. The Pentagon worried the Russian ship was too close to major cables near the US military base at Guantanamo Bay.

In recent years, Russia has moved to modernize its once-decrepit fleet of Soviet-era submarines, coinciding with a new era of confrontation with the West as Moscow pursues military campaigns in Syria and alongside pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraine.

The plans are part of Putin's broader push for new defense hardware, including naval drones and hypersonic missiles.

Monday's death toll is the largest for an underwater vessel in Russia since 2008, when 20 sailors died during a failed sea trial on a submarine.

Russia is still haunted by the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine at the start of Putin's first year in power in 2000, when 118 sailors died in the Barents Sea. His slow initial response was widely seen as a public relations disaster for the then-new leader.