Four pipe-laying machines for building Russia's Far East pipe sink

Four pipe-laying machines intended for building Russia's East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline have sunk in the Lena River in the Irkutsk Region, a spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry's branch in the Irkutsk Region.

The machines were aboard a barge, which capsized, the spokesman said.

The accident is believed to have been caused by a hole in the barge's hull, the spokesman added.

The 4,000-kilometer East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline is being built by the country's oil pipeline monopoly Transneft.

The pipeline is expected to run from the town of Taishet in the Irkutsk Region via the town of Skovorodino on the Russian-Chinese border to Kozmino Bay in the Primorsky Region.
The first part of the pipeline will be completed in 2008, while the second part will be launched in 2014-2015.