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| Russia's Only Aircraft Carrier Burns, How the Fate of Admiral Kuznetsov Now? |
International Military - A small fire broke out on Russia's only aircraft carrier, the cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov. This news was revealed by the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) on Thursday (22/12/2022). “There was a small accident during the repair work. The fire goes out. All relevant fire suppression systems are working properly. There was no damage or loss of life," USC Chief Alexey Rakhmanov told RIA Novosti.
The accident happened shortly after the company announced repairs to the shipyard had been completed and the ship was expected to return to the country's Navy next year. “The shipyard work is almost complete, and now we just need to prepare to refloat. It will happen in a few days," Rakhmanov told TV channel Rossiya 24 last week. It was not immediately clear whether the fire affected those plans.
The blaze is the latest in a string of accidents to hit the ship, which was originally built in the 1980s, since being docked for refitting and upgrades. The aircraft carrier designated in Russia as the aircraft carrier cruiser, thanks to its advanced missile arsenal, has been out of service since 2017.
In 2018, the Admiral Kuznetsov's deck was damaged by a crane that fell when the floating dock sank while the ship was being repaired. The following year, the carrier suffered a major fire caused by welding near a fuel spill in the bowels of the ship.
The fire on the ship raged for nearly a day, with more than ten people injured and two people killed. In September last year, USC reported further delays due to the need to repair all four of the gas turbines that power the carrier. Previous assessments indicated only one unit needed repair.