Their Scorpio 45 ROV has gone through extensive design and modification specifically to support submarine rescue operations. It is the size of a Smart car and is fitted with lights, cameras and powerful cable cutting pincers.

Commander Ian Riches and a team of eight civilians from the company left Glasgow on 5 August in an RAF Boeing C-17 aircraft and flew 4,380 miles to the remote port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatki. The team were assisted by the US Navy to offload the equipment onto local vehicles for the 1.5 hour journey to the nearest port.

The James Fisher naval architect had travelled ahead to make arrangements for the Russian ship to receive the equipment, which was loaded and welded down for the final 45 minute transit to the spot where the mini-sub was snared in pieces of netting.

Working closely with a team from the Russian Navy, the British deployed Scorpio 45 , which began to cut cables holding the submarine.

Underwater footage had revealed pieces of fishing nets wrapped tightly around it, along with other debris.

The seven submariners had donned thermal suits and huddled in a single compartment, lying flat and breathing as lightly as possible to conserve the remaining air. The lights inside Priz AS-28 were also turned off to conserve energy reserves, with temperatures inside the vessel below zero.

With the help of its onboard cameras, the Scorpio 's crew, which works in teams of three, manoeuvred the ROV around the trapped submersible from onboard the mother ship and used its manipulator arms and cutting tools to grip and then cut the cables which held the mini-sub.

After just over five hours of work Scorpio cut through the last cable and the Russian vessel blew its ballast tanks to resurface three minutes later at 03:23 on 7 August. The crew lifted the hatch themselves and climbed out, receiving assistance from a team of American divers before boarding a ship to return to the mainland. The successful mission was further evidence of the growing international cooperation now involved in submarine rescue.

MJ Information No: 21037