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Nuclear sub rescued five in White Sea

The crew of the huge nuclear powered submarine "Voronezh" rescued the five men from "Barents 1100" on Sunday.

Caught in storm, the rescue literally speaking came from the depth and surfaced right in front of the distressed little boat.

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Attempting to circumnavigate bad weather with big waves, the five-crew boat “Barents 1100” ran out of fuel and signaled distress Sunday, reports the Murmansk based news agency B-Port.

The regional rescue center in Arkhangelsk immediately called on two boats in the area to assist and a Mi-8 helicopter with a rescue squadron was alerted. 

It was, however, the huge nuclear powered submarine “Voronezh”, performing combat training in the White Sea, that was closest to the little boat, according to spokesman of the Russian Navy´s Northern Fleet, Sergei Serga. Already 40 minutes after the distress signal was sent from the 11 meter small boat, the submarine arrived, reports Interfax.

Speaking to B-Port, Serga says the submarine was soon alongside the little boat and took onboard the crew of five and started to tow “Barents 1100”.

“Voronezh” is a Oscar-II class submarine, 155 meter long and with a crew of more than 100. The submarine is similar to the ill-fated “Kursk” submarine that sank in the Barents Sea in August 2000.

This is the second time in two years one of the Northern fleet´s nuclear powered submarines has been the life-saving angel for sailors in distress in northern waters. In November 2012, the Victor-III class “Daniil Moskovsky“ saved two man from the small fishing boat “Ribatchi” outside the coast of the Kola Peninsula, as reported by BarentsObserver.