Investigators To Examine Upper Deck Of Kursk Submarine

Investigators will board the nuclear submarine Kursk on Wednesday to carry out a thorough examination of its upper deck. Freshly raised from the bottom of the Barents Sea, the wreck was towed to floating dock No. 50 of a ship repair facility at Roslyakovo. Yesterday, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov said the eight investigating teams organised with the purpose of examining the Kursk would set out on a proper examination in a few days' time, after the vessel and the dock were drained of water. On his part, Prosecutor-General Vladimir Ustinov announced on Tuesday that there were three versions of the Kursk catastrophe and that each of them would remain in force until the end of expert examinations. Almost 20 technical examinations alone will be carried out during the first stage of the investigating procedure. More examinations will be needed in the course of the investigation, said Ustinov. There will also be a forensic expertise -- according to the prosecutor-general, "condition of [sailors'] bodies may furnish new information about what happened to the submarine."