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Russian Nuclear Sub Resumes Service after Repairs
"Russian nuclear submarine Nerpa, which is set to be leased to India, resumed naval service on Monday after repairs from damage sustained during a trial voyage last year.
A ceremony was held in the town of Bolshoy Kamen in Russia's far eastern Primorye region, where the shipbuilding plant repairing the submarine was located. The Russian Pacific Fleet's commander, Vice Admiral Konstantin Sidenko, attended the ceremony.
A plant official was quoted by news agencies as saying that the reliability of the submarine had been confirmed in tests.
The repair work has cost an estimated 65 million U.S. dollars.
The submarine will be leased to India's navy for 10 years, starting from spring 2010.
Nerpa's fire-extinguishing system was accidentally activated when it was on a trial voyage in the Sea of Japan on Nov. 8, 2008, followed by a leak of toxic freon gas, which killed three naval officers and 17 members of a shipyard crew and injured 21.
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