Armed with an array of cameras and cutting equipment able to slice through the most tangled web of cables, the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) made light work of the mesh snagging the Priz AS-28 mini-sub off Russia's Pacific coast.

"This was a fairly routine procedure, but the fact that we were dealing with people's lives created extra difficulties," said Commander Jonty Powis of the Royal Navy, which was roundly hailed by Moscow for freeing the trapped sailors.

The Scorpio, which is just 2.75 metres (8.5 ft) long and 1.8 metres (6 ft) tall and weights 1.4 tonnes, was dispatched from a base in Scotland where it is on constant standby, able to be deployed within 12 hours anywhere in the world.

The robot sub -- flown to Russia's Far East as oxygen dwindled for the Russian submariners -- is operated by a six-strong team, which can pilot it down to a depth of 925 metres at the end of a cable from the surface.

Before attacking the cables and netting Sunday -- trapping the Priz AS-28 at a depth of 190 meters (625 feet) under the Pacific Ocean -- it would have made a full inspection of how the Russian sub was tangled,

Its cutting equipment can scythe through steel cables up to 70 mm thick, while its features also include radiation-detection equipment, radar and even an underwater telephone system to communicate if necessary with those trapped.

The Scorpio 45 is specifically designed to be transportable by plane. A 29-strong team accompanied it Friday on board an RAF C-17 plane from Prestwick in Scotland to Petropavlovsk, where it was transferred to a Russian vessel.

The robot rescue vehicle belongs to the UK Submarine Rescue Service on behalf of the British ministry of defence and is managed by a specialist contractor, James Fisher Rumic.

"We were conscious that the crew were running out of oxygen and that we could not afford any great delays in cutting them free," said the Royal Navy's commander Powis after the successful operation Sunday.

"It was an excellent result in very trying circumstances."

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