A nuclear powered submarine, which has not been identified, caught fire at 9:21 Moscow time on October 23rd. The submarine was undergoing decommissioning at Sevmorput shipyard located in the north of Murmansk city at the Kola Peninsula.
The fire started on the wood scaffolding in the dry dock surrounding the submarine, and then spread to the rubber coating of the submarine.
Six fire engines arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire in two hours, by 11:10 Moscow time, said local Civil Defence representative to the Interfax new agency.
Negligent welding works reportedly caused the fire.
Although the submarine was not identified, there is reason to believe that the vessel was a first generation Echo-II class submarine (K-22). This submarine was defuelled at Sevmorput by the Imandra support vessel in summer 2001. Imandra is run by Murmansk Shipping Company, a commercial operator of nuclear powered icebreakers.
No release of radiation or causalities was reported.
There were four first generation submarines moored at Sevmorput waiting to be decommissioned: one Hotel class (K-145) defuelled in 1995, one November class (defuelling time unclear) and two Echo-II class submarines — K-22 defuelled in summer 2001 and K-128/62 defuelled this summer.
Shipyard No. 35 — Sevmorput