Two rescued from stranded submarine
Tuesday Dec 5 17:23 AEDT
Two men are safe and unhurt after their submarine rescue craft became stranded on the ocean floor off the West Australian coast.
The Australian Submarine Rescue Vehicle (ASRV) was carrying out certification training 40km north of Rottnest Island when one of the two cables in its winching system failed on Monday night.
The craft was lowered 130 metres to the sea floor as a safety measure while a rescue plan was worked out.
Commander of the Submarine Force Elements Group, Commodore Richard Shalders, told reporters the men were rescued at 12.50pm (WDT), after the pod was lifted to 15 metres below the surface.
"The two divers were brought out of the pod, assisted by some divers from the surface, at about 15 metres below the surface," he said.
"They were given assistance with scuba tanks from below the water."
The men were uninjured but receiving medical attention on HMAS ANZAC, he said.
The Remora, operated by two men working for civilian diving contractor Cal Dive International, was undergoing its twice yearly safety certification test with the Australian navy when a winching cable broke.
Commodore Shalders said the two men were stranded for almost 13 hours instead of the usual three to four hours it usually took to complete the operation.
He would not give details about the civilian men, except to say they were both experienced divers.
Three attempts to lift the pod were made in heavy seas before the men were finally rescued, the commodore said.
A global alert was sent out in case local rescue attempts failed, with the contingency plan being to bring in a rescue craft from the United States.
The pod has now failed the navy’s certification test, meaning that if there is an accident on navy submarines help will have to be sought from Singapore or the United States which could mean a delay of more than 24 hours.
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