RUSSIANS REALLY BOTCH IT ...

The Russians have another sub stuck on the bottom with another crew running out of air.

According to Russian reports - there's only air enough left for less than 24-hours as I write this. Apparently the sub can't surface because it's tangled in what they assume is a "fishing net".

Folks, I've spent some time in the deep submergence submarine business. This problem the Russians have should not be an issue - and if this crew dies due to lack of air - the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the Russian government. Here's why ...

1. The sub, by Russian reports, is stranded in 625 feet of water. This isn't even deep water - and I believe that even specially equipped divers can reach this depth to cut them loose.

2. If the diver option is out - don't the Russians have a "NEWT SUIT" to get a man down there?

3. Or another submersible? Depth isn't a problem here - any DSV in the world is designed to reach depths much greater than 625 feet - and most DSV's are equipped with mechanical arms that can manipulate cutting equipment.

Get something down there, cut them loose, then throw a cable on them and hoist this small, 44 ft submersible to the surface. This shoud be easy.

To be sure, even if the submersible has an escape trunk - they are too deep for the crew to exit via it. 450 feet is about the limit of human endurance when it comes to a free assent from a grounded sub - and even then - not all of them would make it to the surface. The ones that did, would likely have some serious medical issues when they surfaced.

But don't tell me the Russians have no way to get a cable down there and haul them up?

This is unbelievable. If the Russians can't get their folks out of 625 feet of water - they have no business in the submarine business.

This looks to me exactly like the old Soviet "conscription mentality" where contingencies are never planned for and personnel are expendable. You would think that, after the loss of the KURST, these guys would learn!

I pray for those submariners though - I sure hope they don't have to die due to their own government's incompetance. I hope to God they can pull these guys out somehow.