Putin red-faced after new Russian navy boat sinks during final building work

One of Russia’s new naval ships has met an early demise after capsizing and sinking in a busy Baltic shipyard.

Tugboat Kapitan Ushakov was undergoing final outfitting in St. Petersburg when it began tilting sharply, prompting a frenzied response from shipyard teams to save the vessel.

The new outfitting was too much for the boat to handle, and it was lying on its side just a few hours after it began tipping on August 8.

The 70-metre boat was first launched in June 2022 and was intended to tow larger vessels, fight fires and help with search and rescue missions.

Russian officials have launched an investigation into potential construction safety violations to see what led to the sinking.

Initial reports found that a flood began in the machinery compartment of the ship.

The accident happened just months after North Korea lost a ship in a similar way, as Kim Jong Un watched on.

In May, North Korea’s second naval destroyer capsized during a failed water launch after becoming damaged during rushed attempts to ‘modernise’ its naval forces.

The new destroyer became unbalanced and was punctured in its bottom sections after a transport cradle on the stern section slid off first and became stuck.

Kim, who was present at the ceremony, blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for a ‘serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism’.

The blundering workers placed a massive blue tarp over the half-sunken ship to cover their mistake.

Local news did not provide details on what caused the problem, the severity of the damage or whether anyone was injured.

It’s uncommon for North Korea to acknowledge military-related setbacks, so the disclosure of the failed ship launch suggests that Mr Kim is serious about his naval advancement programme.

Navy expert Moon Keun-sik, from Seoul’s Hanyang University, said: ‘It’s a shameful thing.

‘But the reason why North Korea disclosed the incident is that it wants to show it’s speeding up the modernisation of its navy forces and expresses its confidence that it can eventually build a greater Navy.’

Moon said the accident happened because North Korean workers rushed to put the ship in the water.

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