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Repairs of fire-damaged submarine to be completed by November 2014

Nuclear submarine Yekaterinburg after repairs should serve 3.5 years more

ST PETERSBURG, July 4 (Itar-Tass) - The fire-damaged nuclear submarine Yekaterinburg will return to the Russian Navy in November 2014 after repairs, director general of the Zvyozdochka shipyard told reporters.

"Not only we'll repair the hydro acoustic section in the bow of the vessel, but will complete all other works to restore its technical readiness. This will extend the Yekaterinburg's service life by 3.5 years," Nikitin said at the international naval show here on Thursday.

He reminded that initially, it was planned to begin repairs in late 2012. "It had to be the second intermediate-level maintenance of the vessel after a decade of operation, the director general said, however, a fire in the section accommodating the hydro acoustic system occurred in December 2011.

"We're carrying out repairs in two stages for the first time. The first stage is cost estimates of the repairs. It has already been completed. The second stage is due to begin in August, when Zvyozdochka will sign a contract with Defense Ministry for overhaul and extending the service life by 3.5 years.

K-84 Yekaterinburg is a strategic nuclear-powered submarine of Project 667 BDRM "Delfin." It was built at the Sevmash shipyard and added to the Navy's arsenal on December 30, 1985.

The submarine is 166 meters long; its width is 12 meters, and displacement - 19,000 tons. It can carry 16 R-29RM ballistic missiles. Its cruising speed is 24 knots /approx 44 kilometers/. It has a crew of 140.

Zvyozdochka specializes in medium repairs of the nuclear submarines of Project 667 BDRM, the backbone of Russia's seaborne strategic nuclear forces. It modernized Yekaterinburg and handed it over to the Northern Fleet in 2003. The company repaired and handed over to the Navy the Novomoskovsk submarine, completing the modernization of all the six submarines of this class. Earlier, the company upgraded K-51 Verkhoturye /1999/, K-84 Yekaterinburg /2003/, K-114 /Tula /2006/, K-117 Bryansk /2008/ and K-18 Karelia /2010/. The project to upgrade the Novomoskovsk was worth eight billion roubles.