Move of Russian Submarine Confirmed: 10 AM Tuesday, August 11

PROVIDENCE, RI: RI Recycled Metals LLC, the company that acquired the former Soviet submarine Juliett 484 in December 2008, has confirmed plans to move the sub from its current location at Collier Point Park to property it owns at 434 Allens Avenue, about 1000 yards down the Providence River. The new owner will eventually dismantle the vessel for scrap.

According to RI Recycled Metals spokesman Ed Sciaba, this move is scheduled to take place at 10AM on Tuesday, August 11. Because of safety concerns, both Collier Point Park and the RI Recycled Metals property will be closed to the public.

For a number of months, RI Recycled Metals has fought through a thicket of legal and regulatory issues to get all the approvals necessary for the move.

"We will carefully take the sub apart and sell the scrap on the global market,” said Sciaba. “Our Allens Avenue site is ideal for this type of work, because it has water, rail, and highway access.”

In addition to scrapping the sub and taking on other metal recycling projects, Sciaba is looking at several other options to create new jobs for Rhode Island workers, to include short sea shipping and other marine-related opportunities.

Detailed terms of the December sub purchase agreement are confidential and have not been announced. However, Frank Lennon, president of USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, former owners of the sub, has confirmed that the Foundation stands to obtain potentially significant financial benefits from the scrap proceeds.

“This will be a real financial boost to our ongoing efforts to bring the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga to life in Rhode Island as a family attraction, job training center, educational facility and Navy memorial,” said Lennon.

During the scrapping process, the Museum will first remove and preserve certain equipment for a future display about Soviet Cold-War era submarines in general, and K-77 in particular. “We plan to remove items such as the periscopes, torpedo tube doors, missile firing stations, engine order telegraphs, and various other controls and gauges,” Sciaba explained.

Cold War museums elsewhere in the world will have the first chance to purchase certain artifacts and equipment they may be lacking in their own displays.

The former Soviet cruise missile submarine K-77 sank at her Providence waterfront mooring during a vicious storm in April of 2007. The sub, popularly known as Juliett 484, was raised last summer by Army and Navy divers in a training exercise that received worldwide attention.

The submarine, featured in the 2002 Harrison Ford film “K-19: The Widowmaker,” was a local attraction and educational facility from August 2002 until it sank. It was open daily for tours, and events ranging from Scouting overnights to birthday parties took place there.

“We tried to figure out a way to restore this historic vessel and reopen her as a public attraction,” said Lennon. “Marine surveyors and salvage experts helped us evaluate the options, and we finally concluded that after 15 months underwater, the condition of the interior was such that restoration is simply not a financially viable option for our group,” he explained.

Both Sciaba and Lennon noted that the timing is not ideal, given local and world economic conditions. However, the sub must be moved from its current location. Repairs to the piers damaged in the original sinking cannot begin until the sub departs, and all concerned would like to see Collier Point Park and its public boat ramp reopened. The new site is also more protected.

“The Russian Sub Museum landlord, Dominion Energy, as well as the Coast Guard and other regulatory agencies have been very fair and patient with us through this whole ordeal,” said Lennon. “We owe it to them to move the sub now, and deal with other issues later.”

NOTE: Access will be strictly controlled, both at Collier Point Park and at the RI Recycled Metals facility. While advance registration is not required, entry will be restricted to those with valid press credentials.

THIS IS A COMPLEX MARITIME MANEUVER, AND NO PUBLIC ACCESS TO EITHER SITE WILL BE ALLOWED.

For information on RI Recycled Metals LLC or the scrapping project, contact:
Ed Sciaba
617-293-8700
esciaba@comcast.net

For information on the Russian Sub Museum or the Juliett 484 submarine, contact:
Frank Lennon
(401) 831-8696
(401) 640-3326 cell
frankl69@aol.com -30-