Cutting work on the bow of the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kurskhas been completed, the Russian navy said today.
"Cutting work is over and the divers are dismantling the giant saw used in the operation," a Northern Fleet spokesman said.
Detaching the damaged bow housing the submarine's torpedoes was seen a crucial part of the salvage operation.
Divers have been working in the icy Arctic waters for two weeks using robot cutting gear to remove the bow, fearing it could break off when the rest of the submarine is lifted.
Technical problems with the large Dutch saw last weekend fed rumours of a delay of the operation until 2002.
The Kursk, which sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea during a naval exercise on August 12th last year, is due to be raised on September 25th, the company in charge of the work, Mamoet-Smit of The Netherlands, has said.
A giant barge, which is to tow the 20,000-tonne Kurskinto docks in the Kola Peninsula, is due to arrive on September 19th.
The cause of the wreck of the Kursk, in which all 118 seamen died, remains unexplained.
Experts believe clues to the cause of the disaster may lie in the damaged bow, which is to be brought to the surface in a separate, Russian-organised operation later.
AFP