LONDON (AFP) - A British rescue ship reached a Canadian submarine and its 57 sailors stranded for nearly 24 hours in high seas in the north Atlantic after a fire caused a loss of power.
The HMS Montrose arrived at the scene off the northwest coast of Ireland around 1:30 pm (1230 GMT) in order to lead efforts to rescue the stricken HMCS Chicoutimi submarine, a defense ministry spokeswoman said.
"HMS Montrose will be establishing communications with the submarine and assessing the situation to decide what the next step will be," the spokeswoman said.
Photographs taken Wednesday from the Nimrod, a maritime patrol aircraft on-site since Tuesday, showed several red-suited Canadian sailors on the submarine's bridge, with white froth lapping at the vessel in a dark swelling sea.
The British defense spokeswoman described the weather conditions as "severe" and said none of the crew had been taken off the stricken sub.
British officials have talked about towing the vessel to the Scottish coast if they cannot restart the submarine.
Canadian naval commander Tyrone Pyle said Wednesday any towing of the powerless vessel would likely not take place before Friday and would last several days.
"We foresee a window of opportunity" on Friday, the commander told reporters in Halifax, the eastern Canadian city where the Chicoutimi had been heading.
Towing "will probably start Friday morning and continue to the weekend," he added.
The submarine made a mayday call at around 1415 GMT Tuesday from 100 nautical miles (180 kilometers) off the northwest coast of Ireland after a fire broke out behind an electrical panel, the Canadian navy said.
It took 15 minutes to put out the fire, but for the past 24 hours the Chicoutimi has been drifting without power.
A spokesman for the British navy told the Press Association that nine sailors were receiving treatment on board for smoke inhalation, but said they were all in "fair health" and did not require evacuation.
The crew were, however, "cold, (in the) dark and being tossed around", he added.
"They will have a certain amount of battery-powered emergency lighting, but they will be trying to conserve whatever power they have.
"It's going to be extremely dangerous for someone to be on board that frigate throwing a line, and even more dangerous for someone from the submarine crew to be outside trying to tie that up.
"Until the seas subside, it'll be extremely dangerous. We have to make sure those 57 people remain safe," the spokesman said.
The stormy weather has slowed the arrival of the rescue ships and kept British military helicopters grounded on the coast of northern Ireland, Britain's defense ministry said earlier.
One Irish ship, LE Roisin, was damaged in the stormy seas and had to abandon its rescue mission and return to base, the Irish Defence Forces said earlier.
Rescue operations were being blighted by 20- to 26-foot (six- to eight-meter) waves and winds of 35 knots (63 kilometers per hour), the Canadian navy was quoted by Britain's Press Association as saying.
Two tugs -- one from the British naval base at Faslane, Scotland and the second a coast guard vessel from Shetland -- were among several vessels trying to reach the submarine, as investigation teams prepared to probe the cause of the accident.
The fire broke out only a day after the Chicoutimi set about on its way from Britain's sub base at Faslane to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The incident happened just over a week after the Times newspaper claimed Canada might sue Britain over the purchase of four second-hand submarines -- including the Chicoutimi -- after they had been plagued by "serious malfunctions and corrosion".
The four conventionally-powered submarines were built for Britain's fleet in the 1980s and were sold, refitted, to Canada.