Fire broke out on one of the Russian navy\u2019s deep-sea research submersibles, and toxic fumes from the blaze killed 14 sailors aboard, Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, although it released few details about the disaster or the vessel involved.<\/p>\n
The Defense Ministry did not say how many sailors were aboard the vessel during Monday\u2019s fire, whether there were any survivors or if it was submerged at the time. But Russian media reported it was the country\u2019s most secret submersible, a nuclear-powered vessel designed for sensitive missions at great depths.<\/p>\n
President Vladimir Putin, who came under criticism for his handling of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster in 2000 that killed 118 sailors, canceled a scheduled appearance and immediately summoned Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for a briefing on the blaze, which was under investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cFourteen submariners have died of poisoning by fumes from the fire,\u201d Shoigu told Putin during a televised meeting. \u201cThe fire was extinguished thanks to the crew\u2019s resolute action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putin ordered Shoigu to fly to the Arctic port of Severomorsk, the main base for Russia\u2019s Northern Fleet where the vessel was brought, to oversee the investigation and report back to him personally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge loss for the navy,\u201d Putin said. \u201cI offer my sincere condolences to the families of the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the vessel had a special mission and an elite crew.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s isn\u2019t a regular vessel. It\u2019s a research vessel with a highly professional crew,\u201d Putin said, adding that seven of the dead had the rank of captain and two were awarded the nation\u2019s highest medal, the Hero of Russia.<\/p>\n
The fire occurred while the submersible was measuring sea depths in Russia\u2019s territorial waters, the ministry said, adding that the vessel also is used for studying the seabed.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s RBC online news outlet and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper identified it as the nuclear-powered AS-12 Losharik.<\/p>\n
The vessel is the most advanced Russian submersible, under a heavy veil of secrecy, and it is believed to have entered service in 2010. It is named after a Soviet-era animated cartoon horse that is made up of small spheres.<\/p>\n
The name is apparently derives from the unique design of its interior hull, which is made of titanium spheres capable of withstanding high pressure at great depths.<\/p>\n
Source: Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fire broke out on one of the Russian navy\u2019s deep-sea research submersibles, and toxic fumes from the blaze killed 14 sailors aboard, Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, although it released few details about the disaster or the vessel involved. The Defense Ministry did not say how many sailors were aboard the vessel during Monday\u2019s fire, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions\/327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}