A fire has broken out on Russia’s only aircraft carrier forcing the whole crew to evacuate in a further blow to renovation plans.
The ill-fated Admiral Kuznetsov was docked in the Zvyozdochka shipyard in Murmansk for repairs when the blaze started on the vessel which has been beset with problems.
The fire erupted in the cabins on the port side of the flagship of the Russian navy, which also caught fire in 2019.
A source told Russia’s TASS news agency: ‘There was a fire on board the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is in the dry dock of the Zvyozdochka shipyard.
‘There were no casualties, 20 people were evacuated.’
The fire was extinguished by 11.30am after firefighters rushed to the shipyard and they managed to avoid major damage to the vessel.
Alexei Rakhmanov, who heads the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) overseeing renovations, told RIA Novosti that the fire occurred during repair work.
He said: ‘There was a local fire, it was extinguished at 11.30am by the personnel and representatives of the fire services who are on the territory of the plant.
‘The damage control system worked quickly, there was no damage.’
This comes after two explosions and mysterious fires in Irkutsk region this week.
Meanwhile, a fire broke out on the same flagship in December 2019, injuring 11 people and left the sheep severely damaged.
The inferno covered at least 4,305 square feet.
