Kursk nuclear submarine raised from Barents Sea

MURMANSK, Russia -- In an immaculate and unprecedented salvage effort, the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine was raised from the Barents Sea floor Monday and began its final journey to shore, clamped under a jumbo barge.

Salvage crew members who were prepared for the worst drew a deep sigh of relief after the trouble-free lifting, which followed more than four months of technical problems and uncertainty.

"I'm very proud that we made a success," said Frans van Seumeren, president of the Dutch Mammoet company, which raised the Kursk together with another Dutch company, Smit International.

"We worked hard, sometimes it was difficult but in the end we succeeded," van Seumeren said, his voice trembling with emotion.

The Kursk, one of Russia's most modern submarines, exploded and sank in August 2000 during naval maneuvers, killing its entire 118-man crew.

It took the Mammoet-Smit International Consortium just over 15 hours to complete the operation. The submarine was lifted on steel cables lowered from the Giant 4 barge and put in clamps under the barge, its protruding conning tower and tail fins tightly fitting into holes carved in the vessel.

Vice Adm. Mikhail Motsak, the Russian naval commander overseeing the recovery operation, said the Kursk should arrive in the harbor of the town of Roslyakovo, near Murmansk, early Wednesday, provided the weather stays calm and allows the salvage team to take the shortest route possible. The barge is being hauled by a tugboat.

"Once we reach the shore, we will have a good drink, according to a Russian custom," Motsak said from aboard a rescue ship.

If seas get rough, the barge may take a longer route, allowing it to wait out a storm near the coast. Weather showed a trend toward worsening on Monday, with snow flurries covering Murmansk with a white film.