Norwegian divers went down to the stricken Russian nuclear submarine early Sunday, to assess the damage the Kursk has suffered, ahead of a planned mission to the bottom of the Barents Sea by a high-tech British mini-submarine.
Russia's NTV private television and other media sources reported that the joint British-Norwegian rescue effort began at 7:30 a.m. (0330 GMT).
The British Ministry of Defense said that Norwegian divers, along with the latest video surveillance equipment, were starting a mission that would last "several hours".
The divers will help decide whether a British rescue team should begin efforts to dock with the sunken submarine using a mini-submersible.
Russia's government has been preparing the nation for the worst, warning that the Kursk's 118 crewmembers were, in all probability, already dead.
Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov cautioned that the chances of anyone surviving last Saturday's accident, which left the Kursk, stranded on the sea bed were only "theoretical".
The specialist Norwegian divers were hoping to be able to test the air pressure aboard the sunken craft to determine if anyone could have survived in the submarine since last Saturday's still-undetermined catastrophic accident.
If the air pressure is too high, the Russian sailors will be presumed to have all died.
Britain's Royal Navy said late Saturday that it was intent on going ahead with the mission aboard a mini-submersible despite grim Russian predictions as to what the rescuers might find if they manage to dock with the Kursk.
The plan is for the three-man LR5 mini-submersible to dock with the Kursk, open the rear escape hatch and attempt to recover any survivors. Since Tuesday, Russian rescue teams have repeatedly failed to dock with the submarine.
At least one of the two-esape hatches on Kursk is known to be too damaged to be of any use - MOSCOW (AFP)
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