Only submarine of Russian Black Sea Fleet to be repaired by late July

Sevastopol, July 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The only submarine of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Alrosa, which had an accident last November, will be fully restored by the end of July, a source at the fleet headquarters told Interfax-AVN on Thursday. "The submarine repairs in Novorossiysk are very energetic," he said.

It was planned at first to complete the repairs by Navy Day, July 25, so that the submarine could take part in a naval parade. "Unfortunately, that will not happen. However, the submarine may go to the fleet base before the end of this month," he said.

"The Russian Alrosa submarine reported an engine malfunction" during Black Sea training on November 21, 2009, the Navy Staff said.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Navy do not have a single operational submarine at present. The St. Prince Georgy B-380 submarine, which was built in 1982, will be put out of service. The Ukrainian Zaporizhia sub is preparing for trials after repairs. Russian naval rescue forces will support the trials.

The Turkish Navy has 14 non-nuclear submarines of Project 209/1400 built in Germany.