A burst steam pipe on a Russian Delta III ballistic missile submarine killed one sailor and wounded several. The sub, the K-223, was tied up at dock in the isolated Pacific base at Vilyuchinsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula. More money is going into maintenance of Russian warships, so that the vessels can put to sea more often. Years of poor maintenance has created many dangerous situations on ships that are complex and difficult to operate even when well maintained. The navy has also suffered from low morale for the last decade, because of low budgets and poor leadership.
