By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia’s Nerpa nuclear submarine has finished sea trials and is now ready to be leased to the Indian Navy in the next few days, an engineer said Wednesday.
“The submarine is now fully ready to carry out its tasks. It will be handed over before the end of the year,” said a senior executive at the Amur Shipyard where the submarine was built.
When Russia makes the delivery, it will make India only the sixth operator of nuclear submarines in the world. The 10-year lease is worth $920 million.
The Nerpa, an Akula II-class attack submarine, had originally been scheduled for delivery in 2008 but an accident that year forced the Russian authorities to put it on hold.
At least 20 people, mostly civilians, were killed when a fire-suppressant gas was released on the Nerpa during trials, in one of Russia’s worst naval accidents.