According to ITAR-TASS, Kareliaarrived on September 9 to undergo interim overhaul. SSBN Karelia built at Northern Machinebuilding Enterprise, Severodvinsk, September 1986. In the Summer 1996 the boat left for extended under-ice cruise and surfaced at the North Pole on 14 June 1996. The previous Commander was Capt 1st Rank Mikhail BANNYKH. In April 2000 president-elect Vladimir Putin took part in the North fleet’s Barents Sea exercise. He put to sea 05 April 2000 aboard the North fleet’s Karelia SSBN, eventually spending the night 50 meters below and observing the war games 06 April. Putin watched the submerged Borisoglebsk SSBN 667 BDR [Delta III] class launch her RSM-50 ballistic missile; meanwhile the Karelia was staying on the surface. In October 2003 the Karelia successfully launched a ballistic missile from the White Sea, hitting a target at the Kura range on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The operational lifetime of these submarines is estimated to be 20-30 years, though in order to operate a ship for this period requires that a major overhaul be performed every 7-8 years. Otherwise, a submarine’s service life shrinks to 10-15 years. The four-year repair works on the first Delta-IV (K-51) submarine were completed in November 1999 at Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk. Zvezdochka actively repairs the Delta-IV submarines. The shipyard’s specialists have recently repaired Tula, Verhoturye and Ekaterinburg. The same type Bryansk is in the plant’s dock at the moment, SPB-TASS reported.