Rescue ship at stricken sub

2004-10-06 19:16

London - A British rescue ship on Wednesday reached a Canadian submarine and its 57 sailors stranded for nearly 24 hours in high seas in the north Atlantic after a fire caused a loss of power.

"HMS Montrose will be establishing communications with the submarine and assessing the situation to decide what the next step will be," a defence ministry spokesperson said.

She described the weather conditions as "severe" and said none of the crew had been taken off the stricken sub.

British officials have talked about towing the vessel to the Scottish coast if they cannot restart the submarine.

Canadian naval commander Tyrone Pyle said on Wednesday any towing of the powerless vessel would likely not take place before Friday and would last several days.

The submarine made a mayday call at about 14:15 (GMT) on Tuesday from 180km off the northwest coast of Ireland after a fire broke out behind an electrical panel, the Canadian navy said.

It took 15 minutes to put out the fire, but for the past 24 hours the Chicoutimi has been drifting without power.

A spokesperson for the British navy said that nine sailors were receiving treatment on board for smoke inhalation, but said they were all in "fair health" and did not require evacuation.

The crew were, however, "cold, (in the) dark and being tossed around", he added.

"They will have a certain amount of battery-powered emergency lighting, but they will be trying to conserve whatever power they have.

"It's going to be extremely dangerous for someone to be on board that frigate throwing a line, and even more dangerous for someone from the submarine crew to be outside trying to tie that up.

"Until the seas subside, it'll be extremely dangerous. We have to make sure those 57 people remain safe," the spokesperson said.

The stormy weather has slowed the arrival of the rescue ships and kept British military helicopters grounded on the coast of northern Ireland, Britain's defence ministry said earlier.

One Irish ship, LE Roisin, was damaged in the stormy seas and had to abandon its rescue mission and return to base, the Irish defence forces said earlier.

Rescue operations were being blighted by 6m to 8m waves and winds of 63km/h.

The incident happened just over a week after the Times newspaper claimed Canada might sue Britain over the purchase of four second-hand submarines - including the Chicoutimi - after they had been plagued by "serious malfunctions and corrosion".

The four conventionally-powered submarines were built for Britain's fleet in the 1980s and were sold, refitted, to Canada.

- AFP