Russian Submarine Accident

Submarine deal with India still on, say Russian defence experts

MOSCOW: The delivery of a Russian nuclear submarine to the Indian Navy next year may be delayed by several months because of the accident involving the vessel’s fire safety system, but the deal is still on, Russian defence experts have said.

Sea trials of the Nerpa submarine, to be leased to India, were interrupted when an accidental discharge of poisonous fire-fighting gas killed twenty and injured over 40 people aboard on November 8. Prosecutors have charged a crewmember with tampering with a temperature gauge which allegedly activated automatic fire extinguishers.

A leading Russian expert on weapon systems suggested that the sophisticated submarine control system, Molibden-I, installed on the Nerpa for the first time may have malfunctioned.

“In contrast to earlier versions, Molibden-I is a fully digital system that has not been proven yet on any other submarine. Some kind of a computer glitch cannot be ruled out,” editor of the authoritative Moscow Defence Brief magazine Mikhail Barabanov said.

The expert told The Hindu that the accident could delay the delivery of the Nerpa to the Indian Navy by several months. The submarine was to join the Indian Navy in August 2007, then the induction was rescheduled to August 2009, but that was before the accident.
Modernisation

Repeated delays may be due to a large number of new systems and technologies installed onboard the Nerpa, the latest in a series of Schucka–B or Akula-II (NATO designation) class attack submarines built in Russia. Experts refuted media reports that Russia had decided not to lease the Nerpa to India and keep it for its own Navy. The reports appeared after Chief of the Russian General Staff Nikolai Makarov said the submarine would be inducted in the Russian Navy early next year. Russian officials have consistently denied any plans to sell India a nuclear submarine.

“Induction in the Russian Navy is part of the export procedure,” said Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Centre for Analysis and Technologies, Russia’s leading arms export think tank. “The shipyard hands over a vessel to the Russian Navy, which then delivers it to the navy of the destination country.”

He ruled out the possibility of Russia pulling out of the leasing deal. In the light of the current problems with the Gorshkov aircraft carrier refit for India, cancellation of the submarine deal would deal a crushing blow to defence cooperation, Mr. Pukhov said.

“The acquisition of the Nerpa will give a quantum jump to India’s naval capabilities,” Mr. Barabanov said.

Experts blame computer glitch for Russian nuclear sub death

MOSCOW, November 19 (RIA Novosti) — The deaths of 20 people on board the Nerpa nuclear submarine could have been caused by a computer glitch, not a crew member, a Russian daily reported on Wednesday. (INFOgraphic)

The tragedy occurred late on November 8 while the Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan. Three submariners and 17 shipyard workers died in the accident. There were 208 people, 81 of them submariners, on board the vessel at the time.

“We submariners are unanimous: a computer program failed. Previously, the submarine fire suppression system had always started manually on the commander’s orders. Now it is launched electronically,” Ensign Yevgeny Ovsyannikov, a technical specialist on the Nerpa, told Komsomolskaya Pravda.

He added that it was the first time this computerized system had been used on the submarine during the sea trials and that the computer had malfunctioned during tests in the dock.

An expert who requested anonymity suggested that a toxic form of Freon could have been used in the fire suppression system.

“A toxic additive, trichlorotrifluoroethane [C2F3Cl3], was used. It is cheaper than pure Freon. Possibly, they simply wanted to economize,” he said.

He added that there were unmistakable signs of poisoning, which could not have been caused by Freon: “People were collapsing as though they had been shot.”

Breathing Freon is generally safe, but if the concentration in the air is high then suffocation can result.

He said 46 people had been hospitalized, not 21 as officially announced.

It was previously reported that the deaths were caused by a crew member activating the fire safety system without permission or by the wrong data being entered into the temperature sensor.

Submariner Dmitry Grobov is suspected of having entered the wrong temperature data for the submarine’s living quarters, which caused the fire suppression system to release the Freon gas.

However, former Navy officers have said they doubt that Grobov was solely to blame since it is impossible for one person to activate the system, which is security protected from unauthorized activation by multiple authentication levels.

The submarine’s nuclear reactor was not affected by the accident, which took place in the nose section, and radiation levels on board remained normal.

Investigators earlier announced that they had brought criminal charges against the crew member, and that he faced up to seven years in jail if found guilty.

The incident is the worst for the Russian Navy since the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in 2000 when all 118 sailors died.

The construction of the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine started in 1991, but was suspended for over a decade due to a lack of funding. Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines.

Based in the Russian Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the Amur Shipyard has built 270 vessels, including the Nerpa and another 55 nuclear submarines since it was established in 1936.

Indians won’t be happy with that news

Well the Akula deal is a done deal , infact Bharat Karnad in his recent book Indian Nuclear Policy states that two Akula SSN will be leased.

havent we seen such reports in the past confirming or denying the deal , its all the posturing because of the Groshkov deadlock , but when Medvedev visits India this december I expect this to be solved.

Nerpa nuclear submarine to join Russian Navy – top brass
11:54 | 18/ 11/ 2008

VLADIVOSTOK, November 18 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Navy will commission the Nerpa nuclear submarine, on which 20 people recently died, rather than sell or lease it to India, the chief of the General Staff told a Russian daily on Tuesday.

On November 8, while the submarine was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan, a crew member is believed to have entered the wrong data into the temperature sensor, which caused the fire safety system to release Freon gas into the living quarters.

“The sum of $650-780 million, which Rosoboronexport and the Amur Shipbuilding Plant had negotiated over a long period of time with the Indian Ministry of Defense, will now be found in Russia, either within the state weapons procurement program or somewhere else,” the Rossiiskaya Gazeta quoted General of the Army Nikolai Makarov as saying.

The construction of the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine started in 1991, but was suspended for over a decade due to a lack of funding.

Indian media have reported on various occasions that the construction of the submarine was partially financed by the Indian government. India has reportedly paid $650 million for a 10-year lease of the 12,000-ton submarine.

The submarine’s reactor was not affected by the accident, which took place in the nose of the submarine, and radiation levels on board remained normal.

The Navy earlier said the sea trials of the submarine would continue after the investigation into the recent tragedy and certain technical adjustments in the fire safety system.

Nerpa will reportedly join other seven Akula class submarines in Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines.

RIA Novosti

Indians won’t be happy with that news

Nerpa stays in Russia

Nerpa nuclear submarine to join Russian Navy – top brass
11:54 | 18/ 11/ 2008

VLADIVOSTOK, November 18 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Navy will commission the Nerpa nuclear submarine, on which 20 people recently died, rather than sell or lease it to India, the chief of the General Staff told a Russian daily on Tuesday.

On November 8, while the submarine was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan, a crew member is believed to have entered the wrong data into the temperature sensor, which caused the fire safety system to release Freon gas into the living quarters.

“The sum of $650-780 million, which Rosoboronexport and the Amur Shipbuilding Plant had negotiated over a long period of time with the Indian Ministry of Defense, will now be found in Russia, either within the state weapons procurement program or somewhere else,” the Rossiiskaya Gazeta quoted General of the Army Nikolai Makarov as saying.

The construction of the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine started in 1991, but was suspended for over a decade due to a lack of funding.

Indian media have reported on various occasions that the construction of the submarine was partially financed by the Indian government. India has reportedly paid $650 million for a 10-year lease of the 12,000-ton submarine.

The submarine’s reactor was not affected by the accident, which took place in the nose of the submarine, and radiation levels on board remained normal.

The Navy earlier said the sea trials of the submarine would continue after the investigation into the recent tragedy and certain technical adjustments in the fire safety system.

Nerpa will reportedly join other seven Akula class submarines in Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines.

RIA Novosti

Lessons from the Nerpa sub accident

http://mnweekly.rian.ru/news/20081114/55356908.html

14/11/2008
An accident on the Nerpa nuclear-powered submarine claimed 20 lives, the largest number of casualties since the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000. The Russian and international press are highlighting the tragedy because it happened on a nuclear submarine, engendering many rumors.

We will know the details only when a government commission completes its investigation, but we can discuss the essence of the tragedy. First, to be clear, the submarine was not on combat duty but was still undergoing trials.

What happened on the Nerpa was a catastrophe, an accident that claimed human life. Officially, the tragedy was provoked by the unauthorized operation of the fire extinguishing system.

Next, Russian submarines are equipped with two fire extinguishing systems, an air-foam system designed to extinguish local fires, and a smothering line system for extinguishing three-dimensional fires (with the exception of powder and ammunition fires), which releases Freon or its derivatives into the endangered compartment, replacing oxygen to extinguish the fire.

Freon is very effective for extinguishing 3D fires but is highly toxic and is therefore a risk to any people who come in contact with it. This justified risk in a submarine is partly compensated by portable breathing apparatuses for the crew.

Manual initiation is required to activate the Freon system in a third-generation submarine, such as the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine. There is one previous case recording a Freon release into the wrong compartment. It happened on a K-77 submarine in 1976 and was due to an assembly mistake made during repairs. The wrong number was painted on the wrong system at the shipyard.

All Russian submarines use this system, and we must assume that the Nerpa uses it as it has not been reported otherwise.

The crewmembers have access to portable breathing apparatuses, which ensure between 10 and 30 minutes of survival depending on the intensity of breathing. The oxygen is used faster under hard work.

The command post can order a Freon release only if the fire alarm sounds or if they receive the necessary alert verbally via the audio system. It is true that fire alarm systems sometimes malfunction, which puts special emphasis on communication between the command post and the affected compartment. Freon activation is not automatic when the fire alarm goes off. The Nerpa was completed only recently and was undergoing sea trials, which is why it had 81 sailors and over a hundred civilian specialists – workers and engineers from the shipyard, 208 in all. Most civilians lack military survival skills, but they work with sailors during trials to evaluate the systems.

What happened in the submarine’s nose, where torpedoes are stocked?

The authorities say the 21 injured have no burns, which means there was no fire. There could be minor sources of fire and hence smoke in the compartment, which would have activated the fire alarm. As a result, the command post or somebody in the compartment may have decided to release Freon into the first and second compartments.

This made the atmosphere in the first (and possibly second) compartment unbreathable, and therefore lethal. Of the total number of victims (41), 36 were civilian specialists, who were most likely affected because they had not been trained or, less likely, because of a limited number of breathing apparatuses.

Workers and engineers taking part in building and testing submarines should be trained in survival procedures, including fire and the possible release of Freon.

And lastly, why were nearly three times more people on board during the sea trial? Overcrowding can only lead to commotion and disorder.

We can only hope that the proper conclusions will be drawn from the tragedy, and that it will not be repeated on the Nerpa or any other submarine.

Ilya Kramnik

Crew member ‘tampered with temperature sensor on Nerpa sub’

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) – The deaths of 20 people on board the Russian nuclear submarine the Nerpa were caused by a crew member entering the wrong data into a temperature sensor, the Kommersant paper said on Monday. (INFOgraphics)

The business daily said, quoting a source close to the investigation, that sailor Dmitry Grobov is suspected of having entered the wrong temperature data for the submarine’s living quarters, which caused the fire safety system to release Freon gas.

The source said that according to information obtained from the sub’s Rotor data block, similar to an aircraft’s black-box, “the temperature…increased sharply all of sudden and the fire safety system reacted as programmed.”

The daily said that at the time of the incident Grobov was on a scheduled watch and the access code to the fire safety system was written in pencil on the surface of the equipment.

The tragedy occurred late on November 8 while the Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan. Three submariners and 17 shipyard workers died in the accident. There were 208 people, 81 of them submariners, on board the vessel at the time.

However, former Navy officers have told the paper they doubt that Grobov was solely to blame as it is impossible for one person to activate the system, which is protected from unauthorized activation by multiple levels of confirmation.

The submarine’s reactor was not affected by the accident, which took place in the nose of the submarine, and radiation levels on board remained normal.

Investigators earlier announced that they had brought criminal charges against the crew member, and that he faced up to seven years in jail.

“Military investigators have determined the person who activated, without permission or any particular reason, a fire safety system on board the submarine. He is a sailor from the crew, and he has already confessed,” Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office, said on November 13.

The incident is the worst for the Russian Navy since the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in 2000 when all 118 sailors died.

The construction of the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine started in 1991, but was suspended for over a decade due to a lack of funding. Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines.

Based in the Russian Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the Amur Shipbuilding Plant has built 270 vessels, including the Nerpa and another 55 nuclear submarines since it was established in 1936.

Smells like that some of the previous stories and some of the officials and media seem to be trying to use the sailor that admitted guilt as a scapegoat and a lightning rod.

I not saying that the sailor shouldn’t face disciplinary action, I’m saying that people shouldn’t let their attention be diverted from the rest of the causations that led up to this mishap. I also feel that some degree of mercy should be given to the sailor for being honest and volunteering information that came forward and admitted fault.

I’m afraid that some of the previous articles seem to be using the sailor as a lightning rod, and it might be used for the authorities to divert attention away from themselves with public which hunt of the sailor; , Thusly diverting a attention away from their own dereliction of duty (a systematic breakdown of crew resource management).

The word “tampering” seems to be somewhat of a lightning rod (sensationalistic, biased and inflammatory). It seems like the sailor just made a stupid mistake of transcribing or a typo; that led to or contributed to this mishap. I would consider posting access codes on the surface of the equipment to be a more significant violation, though at this point it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with this mishap directly. Though indirectly allowing access codes to be written down on the surface of equipment I would think would be a breach of the intent/purpose of having the system require access codes; I feel this is a working environment that is tolerant of lax unprofessional behavior; a crew resource management failure. I feel that the evidence suggests that not just one sailor is at fault, but the entire system.

This reminds me of the crew resource management breakdown that allowed continued reckless behavior and rule violations that led up to a B-52 crash practicing for an air show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQa4PpIkOZU

I cite.

Darker Shades of Blue:
A Case Study of Failed Leadership
http://s92270093.onlinehome.us/CRM-Devel/resources/paper/darkblue/darkblue.htm

I feel the sailor, the crew and brass/command should all shoulder some of the burden of responsibility/fault.

Crew member ‘tampered with temperature sensor on Nerpa sub’

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) – The deaths of 20 people on board the Russian nuclear submarine the Nerpa were caused by a crew member entering the wrong data into a temperature sensor, the Kommersant paper said on Monday. (INFOgraphics)

The business daily said, quoting a source close to the investigation, that sailor Dmitry Grobov is suspected of having entered the wrong temperature data for the submarine’s living quarters, which caused the fire safety system to release Freon gas.

The source said that according to information obtained from the sub’s Rotor data block, similar to an aircraft’s black-box, “the temperature…increased sharply all of sudden and the fire safety system reacted as programmed.”

The daily said that at the time of the incident Grobov was on a scheduled watch and the access code to the fire safety system was written in pencil on the surface of the equipment.

The tragedy occurred late on November 8 while the Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan. Three submariners and 17 shipyard workers died in the accident. There were 208 people, 81 of them submariners, on board the vessel at the time.

However, former Navy officers have told the paper they doubt that Grobov was solely to blame as it is impossible for one person to activate the system, which is protected from unauthorized activation by multiple levels of confirmation.

The submarine’s reactor was not affected by the accident, which took place in the nose of the submarine, and radiation levels on board remained normal.

Investigators earlier announced that they had brought criminal charges against the crew member, and that he faced up to seven years in jail.

“Military investigators have determined the person who activated, without permission or any particular reason, a fire safety system on board the submarine. He is a sailor from the crew, and he has already confessed,” Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office, said on November 13.

The incident is the worst for the Russian Navy since the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in 2000 when all 118 sailors died.

The construction of the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine started in 1991, but was suspended for over a decade due to a lack of funding. Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines.

Based in the Russian Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the Amur Shipbuilding Plant has built 270 vessels, including the Nerpa and another 55 nuclear submarines since it was established in 1936.

Periscope depth is probably something like 20m. That is a difference, particularly if the question is how long it would take until the contaminated compartments could be vented to the environment (which, in case of periscope depth, would be almost immediately).

There are two differing versions – 80mdown and periscope depth.

Pardon my ignorance; in meters what is the periscope depth of this submarine? Just so I can no how much difference is there between periscope depth and 80 m. It doesn’t seem like that much of a difference to me (Unless we’re talking about physics/pressure), but if I was a submariner I might have a different opinion.

RSM55 stated it was on deep dive trials, though I’m unsure of his source for that, if the boat was at periscope depth the officer of the watch should have been able to ventilate the spaces before anyone perished. IF proper DC procedures existed on this boat.

There are two differing versions – 80mdown and periscope depth.
Regarding the officer on duty – it was the second compartment, which includes Central Post, which was affected by triple dose of freon.
I repeat – the boat had completed the trials and washeading home. What’s the time for emergency surfacing from 80m anyway?

Can this have lead to some misinterpretation by the sailor and unintentionally might have activated it ?

ONE guy releasing a TRIPLE security switch, even if it’s all computerized, without anyone noticing? Well, theoretically…(remember the Chechen who managed to kill a couple of crew members and to retreat to compartment 1 before releasing freon manually in the CP?).
As for alarm bells etc.: the alarm horn reacts to a)the release and b) if it doesn’t work, it reacts to the slightest rise of compartment pressure.
My guess is that the horns were shut down/masked, in order to ensure that the civilian crew/some exhausted mils could sleep well in case of intempestive horn blast – something that happened before, esp. after several false alarms when crew members get tired of reacting to every false alarm (due to a fault in the emercomms) every half an hour.

Here an update from the BBC:

Russian charged over sub disaster
The Nerpa Russian nuclear submarine. Photo: 9 November 2008
The K-152 Nerpa was carrying many more people than usual

A sailor has been charged for setting off a firefighting system on a Russian nuclear submarine that released gas, killing 20 people, investigators say.

They say the suspect – who has not been named – activated the system “without authorisation and for no reason”.

They say the man “has already admitted his error”, but some officials have cast doubt on the announcement.

Twenty people, mostly civilians, died when freon gas was released on the Nerpa attack submarine on Saturday.

In all, three servicemen and 17 civilians were killed and another 21 people were injured during sea trials in the Sea of Japan.

‘Scapegoat’

“The suspect faces charges of negligence for causing the deaths of two or more people,” said Vladimir Markin, representative of the prosecutor general’s office.

I was lying down resting after being on watch. Suddenly the freon gas started coming down right above me. It was like a drug. I lost consciousness
Viktor Rifk, survivor

However, Mr Markin declined to give any details about the accident.

If found guilty, the sailor could be jailed for seven years.

But a member of Russia’s Public Chamber, which oversees the government and parliament, expressed concern about the speed with which the investigators announced that they had found the culprit.

Anatoly Kucherena said the law stipulated there should be a thorough investigation and collection of evidence followed by a trial in court at which any suspects would be found either guilty or innocent.

Several defence experts have also expressed fears that the sailor might be a scapegoat, and one member of the Nerpa’s crew was quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency as saying that his colleague could have made a confession under pressure.

The Nerpa, or Akula-class, submarine had more than 200 people aboard, 81 of them service personnel, when the accident happened.

On Wednesday, officials said that preliminary investigations suggested that the “unsanctioned activation” of the automatic firefighting system caused the tragedy.

Freon gas displaces oxygen from the air to put out a fire.

There has been speculation that overcrowding and the presence of so many civilians aboard the vessel may have contributed to the death toll – but this has not been confirmed by the investigators.

Survivor’s account

Several survivors later recalled the terrifying seconds after the gas started filling some sections of the submarine.

Survivor Viktor Rifk in hospital. Photo: NTV television
Viktor Rifk said he managed to put a gas mask on time

“I was lying down resting after being on watch. Suddenly the freon gas started coming down right above me. It was like a drug. I lost consciousness,” said Viktor Rifk, an engineer, quoted by the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper on Tuesday.

“We all had gas masks but maybe some people didn’t manage to put them on in time,” Mr Rifk later told Russia’s NTV television.

A number of the people were sleeping when the accident happened, and reports in Russian media suggested that some of them were too dazed to put on gas masks.

Several former Russian mariners have suggested that the civilian personnel – engineers and shipyard workers – may have lacked experience in handling the breathing apparatus.

The nuclear reactor, which is in the stern, was not affected and there was no radiation leak, officials said.

Russia’s worst submarine disaster happened in August 2000, when the nuclear-powered Kursk sank in the Barents Sea. All 118 people on board died.

The then president, Vladimir Putin, was criticised for being slow to react to the incident and reluctant to call in foreign assistance.

Makes sense, given that the system was supposed to be manually activated and no one is silly enough to make something that is manually activated to activate itself.

What I have read was since the sub was to be leased to India , all the mentioned system in the sub were reffered to and written in English , instead of Russian which would normally be the case for Russian sub.

Can this have lead to some misinterpretation by the sailor and unintentionally might have activated it ?

Crew member caused tragedy on Russian nuclear sub – investigators

MOSCOW, November 13 (RIA Novosti) – A crew member activated without permission a fire safety system on board the Russian nuclear submarine Nerpa, causing the deaths of 20 people, investigators said on Thursday.

“Military investigators have determined the person who activated, without permission and any particular reason, a fire safety system on board the submarine. He is a sailor from the crew, and he has already confessed,” Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the investigation at the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Criminal charges have already been brought against the crew member, and he faces up to seven years in jail.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081113/118280454.html

Makes sense, given that the system was supposed to be manually activated and no one is silly enough to make something that is manually activated to activate itself.

Crew member caused tragedy on Russian nuclear sub – investigators

MOSCOW, November 13 (RIA Novosti) – A crew member activated without permission a fire safety system on board the Russian nuclear submarine Nerpa, causing the deaths of 20 people, investigators said on Thursday.

“Military investigators have determined the person who activated, without permission and any particular reason, a fire safety system on board the submarine. He is a sailor from the crew, and he has already confessed,” Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the investigation at the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Criminal charges have already been brought against the crew member, and he faces up to seven years in jail.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081113/118280454.html

A good article about the accident here: http://redbannernorthernfleet.blogspot.com/2008/11/nerpa-disaster-update.html

The fire fighting system activates in the 1st and 2nd compartments at a depth of 80 meters.

– persicope depth, returning to base

– manual only.

RSM55 stated it was on deep dive trials, though I’m unsure of his source for that, if the boat was at periscope depth the officer of the watch should have been able to ventilate the spaces before anyone perished. IF proper DC procedures existed on this boat.

Can someone help me on this:

-when the accident occurred, was the Sub submerged or on the surface?

-Is it correct that the freon sistem is MANUALLY Actuated on all subs of the RuN, being the automatic sistem a requirement from the Indian Navy????

thanks in advance

– persicope depth, returning to base

– manual only.

Can someone help me on this:

-when the accident occurred, was the Sub submerged or on the surface?

-Is it correct that the freon sistem is MANUALLY Actuated on all subs of the RuN, being the automatic sistem a requirement from the Indian Navy????

thanks in advance

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081111/118253739.html