"The hardest task has already been accomplished," said Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov before leaving the northern port city of Murmansk, where the 20,000-tonne Kursk was expected to arrive Wednesday.

The Giant-4 barge operated by the Dutch contractors Mammoet-Smit is tugging the sub to the nearby town of Rolyakovo, where the hulk will be placed in a dry dock.

After weeks of delays the barge succeeded in lifting the Kursk from 112 metres (370 feet) under water on the seabed Monday, with the help of 26 steel cables, each weighing around 22 tonnes.

The vessel sank on August 12, 2000, with the loss of all 118 crew aboard, while on-off preparations to raise the hull have taken almost three months due to bad weather in the Arctic circle.

The commander of the Russian Northern Fleet meanwhile told reporters Tuesday that recovering the 22 Granit missiles on board the Kursk would be a "potentially dangerous operation."

Admiral Viacheslav Popov said the Russian Navy would be taking strict security measures for that operation -- expected to begin on Saturday or Sunday.

The identification of the 118 bodies "will likely be difficult," Colonel Vladimir Mulov, the fleet's military prosecutor told AFP, adding that it would take time to find the bodies. They also risked decomposing quickly once air got into the submarine, he said.

Klebanov told journalists on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the success of the lifting operation, adding: "The president's reaction was positive."

Putin had staked his reputation on raising the vessel after promising the families of the victims that their relatives' bodies would be recovered.

The Kremlin chief was much criticised in the wake of the Kursk disaster for not cutting short his summer holiday at a Black Sea resort in order personally to take charge of the ill-fated rescue operation.

The Russian navy was also lambasted in the country's media for its Soviet-style refusal to hand out information about the investigation into the causes of the tragedy.

Bitter memories of media criticism 14 months ago no doubt accounted for the celebratory tone of remarks by Vice Admiral Mikhail Motsak, head of Russia's Northern Fleet, on announcing the Kursk had been lifted.

"The emotion was very great when we heard this news, because it means this enormous labour by divers, sailors and technical experts has not been in vain."

"The Kursk is no more lying on the bottom of the sea," added an equally upbeat Lars Walder, a Mammoet-Smit spokesman.

In dry dock at Roslyakovo, eight kilometres (five miles) north of Murmansk, navy experts will scrutinise the sub's wreck in a search for clues as to what caused the accident, fleet spokesman Vladimir Navrotsky said on Tuesday.

The most likely theory is a torpedo explosion aboard the vessel, although Russian government spokesmen have declined to rule out a collision with a foreign, US or British, submarine.

The nuclear-powered Kursk will also be examined by divers to measure the radioactivity level inside its hull.

But Klebanov said that the sub's nuclear reactor did not pose a safety hazard.

"If we had the slightest doubt that something might occur with the reactor, we would not continue the operation at Roslyakovo," Klebanov added.

The local population in Roslyakovo has voiced concern about the arrival of the 20,000-tonne hulk.

See earlier report at time of Kursk being first raised

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