Situation 'extremely grave' for submarine crew

Valentina Staroseltseva is anxiously awaiting word about her son Dimitiri, who is one of the sailors trapped in the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk

Russia tries again with submersible rescue vessel

In this story: Rescuers driven by fear Own torpedo sent Kursk down Communications with sub lost No nuclear weapons aboard, Russia says RELATED STORIES, SITES

MOSCOW (CNN) -- As the Russian navy mounts a second rescue mission to the stricken submarine Kursk, officials are considering using inflatable pontoons to raise the sub to the surface, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Meanwhile, CNN has learned that Russia has asked NATO headquarters in Brussels if any NATO member nation has a solution to save the 116-man crew trapped aboard the stricken nuclear submarine.

VIDEO See a computer animation of how a rescue attempt might look Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Mike Hanna takes a look at the rescue operation Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Interview Tuesday morning with a former director of U.S. Navy nuclear propulsion (August 15) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) The families of the stranded submariners say it's a horror. CNN's Mike Hanna reports Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO Paul Beaver of Jane's Defence Weekly assesses the situation 2.6MB/63 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Submarine rescue     RESOURCES Diagram of Rescue Attempt Comparative size of stranded sub. Submarine position underwater CNN Cold War Special: The frightening world of nuclear accidents     ALSO For Kursk crew, a cold, dark, scary wait Sinking theories surround Russian sub U.S. survivors of sub sinking recall their 1939 disaster

U.S. sources told CNN that a Russian government official informally asked NATO: "If we were to ask for assistance, what sort of capabilities could (NATO) member nations offer?"

The office of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander of the Atlantic, in Norfolk, Virginia, released a statement late Tuesday outlining the thrust of the Brussels meeting, saying the information shared in the meeting could "shorten the response time should Russian officials make a request for assistance."

NATO and Russian representatives "worked a whole broad range of options" during the meeting focusing on technology that various NATO nations could bring to the table, the official told CNN.

Rescuers driven by fear

The situation for the crew -- trapped aboard their sunken ship 350 feet beneath the surface of the Barents Sea -- appears to grow increasingly desperate.

More than a dozen Russian warships hover around the site where the Kursk went down over the weekend, but high waves and strong winds have limited their rescue options.

On Tuesday, the first attempt with a submersible rescue vessel failed when it was unable to attach to the submarine. It couldn't attach, officials said, because the hull of the submarine rests at a 60-degree angle, incompatible with the configuration of the rescue vessel.

Facing storm seas within 24 hours, the Russian Navy launched a second attempt a short while later from the surface ship Rudinsky.

The Russian Navy would say only that the rescue efforts were "ongoing."

The head of the Russian Navy, Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov, said if a submersible is able to hook up with the submarine, the rescue operation would take between six and eight hours to complete.

The effort is being pursued using two small rescue capsules. They have three-man crews who guide the craft with video cameras and visually through portholes.

If the crew cannot be evacuated with the rescue capsules, a backup plan is to try to raise the entire submarine by strapping 400-ton pontoons to both sides and inflating them with pressurized air, Interfax quoted Kuroyedov as saying.

There was no immediate word if such a plan would run the danger of giving the crew the bends, or decompression sickness, if the sub were raised too quickly.

Kuroyedov said in televised comments that rescuers were being driven by fear for the sailors' lives. "Our lack of knowledge about the fate of the crew has marked all our work," he said.

"(The rescuers) know the men down there are their comrades."

Own torpedo sent Kursk down

Kuroyedov revised his account of how the submarine got into trouble, saying that a torpedo had exploded near the front of the ship, causing the front section of the craft to flood. Earlier, Russia had blamed the incident on a collision, but Russian officials said it now appeared there had been no collision.

The Kursk, a mammoth submarine, is one of the newest in the Russian fleet, built in 1994 and commissioned in 1995. It was taking part in naval exercises intended to demonstrate to the world a reinvigorated Russian Navy.

The sections of the submarine are divided into compartments, but it was unclear how many of the crew had been able to escape into safer parts of the ship before the front of the submarine filled with water, forcing it down to the sea floor.

Communications with sub lost

When the submarine foundered, its two nuclear reactors were shut down, cutting off electrical power and raising fears that the crew would run out of oxygen.

Rescuers worked throughout Monday and overnight into Tuesday, trying to lower a diving bell onto the hatch of the submarine that would supply oxygen to the crew and lift survivors to the surface.

However, rough seas rendered those rescue attempts a failure.

The Russian Navy official in charge of the rescue operation said communication with the submarine had been lost. On Monday, the flotilla of rescue ships had been able to talk to the crew by radio.

Over time, that deteriorated, and members of the crew began banging in code on the hull of the stricken vessel. Now, said Russian officials, that communication had stopped, leaving rescuers to wonder how many of the 116 member crew were left alive.

"Of course, the oxygen is running low -- people just need to lie or sit down," a Navy spokesman at Severomorsk said Tuesday.

No nuclear weapons aboard, Russia says

While Russian Navy officials said the incident occurred on Sunday, two U.S. Navy submarines operating in the area said they detected an explosion aboard the submarine on Saturday.

RTR state television showed Kuroyedov pointing out damage on a diagram. On the starboard side, a torpedo hatch was wide open and a command tower was damaged. On the port side, bits of the vessel were scattered on the sea floor.

He was quoted as saying the navigation room and the bow were wrecked. The periscope was up.

The 14,000 ton submarine lay approximately 107 meters (350 feet) beneath the surface of the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea, 136 kilometers (85 miles) from the Russian naval base at Severomorsk.

Russian officials said there were no nuclear weapons aboard the Kursk and said, so far, no radiation leaks from the submarine's reactors had been detected.

Kuroyedov said the situation was "extremely grave," with the crew expected to run out of oxygen on Friday. "What remains is our hope, which leaves us fewer and fewer chances every day. Our calculations show that by August 18 they will run out of oxygen," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kuroyedov had given a bleak assessment of the crew's chances of survival in a report to Russian President Vladimir Putin -- currently on vacation in a Black Sea resort -- saying the prognosis was "very grim."

"I am not a pessimist, I am a realist," Kuroyedov said.

Navy officials said water appeared to be leaking into the submarine.

CNN Correspondent Walter Rodgers and Reuters contributed to this report.

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