MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy denied Friday media reports of an explosion aboard a nuclear submarine under repair in Severodvinsk, on the White Sea, Thursday.
Igor Dygalo, an aide to the Russian Navy commander, said one of the submarine's main ballast tanks at a dockyard was damaged due to "excessive air pressure," which "dockyard officials are treating as a routine occurrence."
Dygalo said no one was injured in the incident, adding that the damaged tank would be repaired.
The Russian Navy has been hit by several accidents involving submarines. The worst occurred August 12, 2000, when the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank, killing all 118 crewmembers, after a torpedo exploded onboard.
In August 2005, the Priz AS-28 mini-sub with seven sailors onboard became entangled in a fishing net at a depth of about 190 meters (about 620 feet) in the Berezovaya Bay in the Bering Sea.
It was rescued after three days with the help of an unmanned British deep-sea rescue vehicle, the Scorpio 45.
