Divers cut cable hole in Kursk

Kursk: Salvage operation to tow it back to Murmansk

MURMANSK, Russia (CNN) -- Divers have cut a fresh hole in the fifth compartment of the outer hull of the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk.

Igor Dygalo, a spokesman for the Russian Navy, said the divers on Sunday were also working on cutting holes in the seventh and eighth compartments.

The holes will be used to attach steel cables to the sunken submarine which will be raised by 26 hydraulic lifts anchored to a giant pontoon, and will be towed to the Arctic port of Murmansk.

The Kursk was shattered by an explosion and crashed to the sea floor on August 12, 2000, during a training exercise in the Arctic waters. All 118 sailors aboard were killed.

Meanwhile, a giant barge loaded with equipment for cutting away the submarine's first compartment arrived in the Norwegian port of Kirkines Sunday morning, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

It will be towed to the salvage site next Friday, the report said.

The salvage team plans to slice off the heavily damaged first compartment, where the boat's main torpedo tubes were housed, and raise it in a separate operation later.

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The Kursk has two nuclear reactors aboard, but Russian nuclear experts have denied any possibility of a radiation leak during the salvage effort, saying the reactors would remain safe even if the steel cables break and the Kursk slams back to the sea floor.

In Murmansk, a memorial service was held for sailors who died in the Kursk sinking instead of a parade to mark Russian Navy Day, which is celebrated on the last Sunday in July.

The loss of the vessel, one of the most modern in the fleet, traumatised Russia and President Vladimir Putin vowed to raise the Kursk and dispose of its nuclear reactors.

The Russian navy is raising the Kursk with Dutch heavy transport firm Mammoet, salvage company Smit and Norway's Norse Cutting and Abandonment, at a cost of around $130 million.

However, the project is working under severe time constraints and aims to raise the vessel by September 20 before harsh winter weather closes in on the Arctic region.

The commander of the Kursk nuclear submarine salvage operation has complained about the military activity in the area.

Vice Admiral Mikhail Motzak said there was disproportionate and "extraneous" number of Norwegian and British ships and planes near the Barents Sea salvage site.

The complex operation to lift the Kursk, which sank last year with the loss of all 118 crew, began two weeks ago.