SEVERODVINSK (Sputnik) — A fire on board a nuclear attack submarine at the Zvezdochka shipyard in northwestern Russia has been completely extinguished, a spokesman for the shipyard said on Tuesday.
The Oscar II class Orel submarine caught fire earlier in the day during a scheduled overhaul in a dry dock at the shipyard. The total area of the fire is estimated at about 40 square meters (47.8 square yards).
"At this point, the source of smoke on the Orel submarine, which is being overhauled at the Zvezdochka shipyard, has been extinguished. There is no smoke, only the steam coming out," Yevgeny Gladyshev said.
The Investigative Committee launched an inspection into the cause of the blaze in the Orel's lower part of the hull, which Gladyshev said earlier was caused by safety violations during welding works.
The accident did not result in casualties and the shipyard's press service alleviated fears immediately that the open fire may spread to nearby vessels.
The shipyard, located in a delta flowing into the Barents Sea, was built in 1946 specifically for the repair and modernization of submarines and surface vessels. According to its website, Zvezdochka has repaired a total of 115 submarines, including 83 nuclear submarines of various classes, in its operational history.
