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Submarine accident halts Baikal mission
Russian scientists suspended a mission to explore the world's biggest lake yesterday after one of their submarines collided with a floating platform, media reported.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:02 July 31, 2008
Moscow: Russian scientists suspended a mission to explore the world's biggest lake yesterday after one of their submarines collided with a floating platform, media reported.
The accident took place after a day of confusion surrounding the Lake Baikal mission, with organisers withdrawing their initial claim of having set a world record for depth in freshwater diving.
News agency RIA said a storm sent one of the two submarines used in the mission crashing into a floating platform used as the mission's control centre.
"The Mir-2 collided with the Metropolia platform ... during its descent into the water today," RIA quoted Vladimir Strugatsky, one of the mission's organisers, as saying.
Strugatsky said the submarine's engine was damaged and the mission would be suspended for at least one day. Mission organisers could not be immediately reached for comment.
Tuesday's dive, the focus of national media attention and regular live reports on state television, was originally hailed by Russian officials as a world record for depth in freshwater diving.
The scientists said they discovered a point in Baikal deeper than the one visited by another Russian expedition several years earlier and thought to be the bottom of the lake.
Schedule not clear
But after the crews' return and champagne toasts on live television, dive organisers said there was no new record. Organisers said exploration would continue this week, but did not clarify when submersions would continue.
Lake Baikal is the world's deepest and oldest lake. Home to 20 per cent of the world's unfrozen freshwater and some of the rarest species of fish and other aquatic life. It remains one of the least explored frontiers on earth.
The expedition is led by Artur Chilingarov, a scientist and Kremlin-backed member of parliament.
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