MURMANSK, August 30. /TASS/. The AS-34 deep-submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV) of the Northern Fleet’s Search and Rescue Department has set a submersion record, having reached a depth of 1,000 meters during tests. This is a record-breaking level for the Northern Fleet’s DSRVs, Head of the Search and Rescue Department, Captain 1st rank Vladimir Gorban told reporters on Wednesday.

"The AS-34 deep-submergence vehicle has hit a depth of 1,005 meters in the northwest Norwegian Sea. Never before has a Northern Fleet’s rescue vehicle reached such depths," Gorban emphasized.

The AS-34 was taken on with a submersion depth limit after the tests. This was due to the fact that the tests were carried out in the Motovsky Gulf where the depths are not particularly deep and vessels cannot submerge to lower levels there. However, technical specifications for special-purpose submarines like the AS-34 make it possible to operate under heavier pressures.

So, a decision was taken to carry out tests in the Norwegian Sea. The training program included an obligatory set of exercises for surface and underwater maneuvering, underwater navigation and search for "sunken" objects at near ultimate depths.

A thorough preparation preceded the test. The equipment was checked for both the DSRV and the Georgy Titov rescue vessel. The AS-34’s crew - five people led by Captain Lieutenant Roman Yevmenov - had also been trained.

The AS-34 reached a depth of a little more than 1 km on the first try. "The rescue vehicle has performed in the best possible way. All systems and mechanisms were operating without any failures, and the crew acted in a highly professional way," Gorban noted.

The DSRV will soon be used in exercises to provide help to a submarine lying on the sea bed that will be carried out in the Ein Bay of the Motovsky Gulf in the Barents Sea.