New phase in Kursk mission nears

Preparations are being made to split the Kursk into two parts

MOSCOW, Russia -- Divers working on the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine have begun piercing the last of 26 holes in the vessel's hull needed to raise the wreck off the bottom of the Barents Sea.

Signs that the first part of the salvage operation is nearing an end was the imminent arrival at the disaster site of a barge carrying equipment for the next phase of the salvage, The Associated Press reported.

For several weeks the international team working in the Barents Sea has been cutting holes in the hull that will be used to attach steel cables to the vessel to hoist it to the surface.

The divers began cutting the final hole on Tuesday, Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said in a statement.

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Meanwhile, the carrier barge, bearing equipment needed to separate the submarine's first compartment from the rest of the vessel, is making its way from the Norwegian port of Kirkenes.

It is expected to arrive at the Kursk site on Wednesday, Dygalo said, according to AP.

The submarine's first compartment -- which was devastated by the explosion that sank the Kursk last August, killing all 118 men on board -- will be left behind when the Kursk is raised.

Russian officials say it is too dangerous to lift because it could contain unexploded torpedoes.

Once the barge arrives the preparation for severing the fore section is expected to take up to a week, Vyacheslav Zakharov, a spokesman for the Dutch company Mammoet, said in an interview posted on an official Kursk web site.

Mammoet, which is heading the salvage operation, said the cutting process should take two days -- but the operation will be dependant on the unseasonably stormy weather for the time of the year and the integrity of the wreck.

Zakharov, however, said the possibility of an explosion in the first compartment during the cutting phase had been ruled out.

"We are not expecting an explosion," he said. "But, nevertheless, the architects of the project maintain that even if there is an explosion, the consequences won't be catastrophic."

Foul weather has caused delays in the operation recently, but officials maintain they are sticking to the original schedule.

Once raised, the Kursk's will be transported to the Russian navy's Roslyakovo ship repair plant near the port of Murmansk.

Using two purpose-built pontoons, the submarine will then be lifted into a dry dock where experts are to examine the wreck for clues as to what caused Russia's worst naval disaster.

Russian officials maintain that a faulty torpedo set off a series of explosions onboard the six-year old vessel, which sank during naval exercises.