The Swiss biologists Cristina Recasens, Helena Garson, Katrina Kremer and Tina Wunderlin  took part in the submersion of the Mir vessels, which took place near cape Izhimei to the north of Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal on August 3-4.

The submersibles were operated by Anatoly Sagalevich, Chairman of Technical committee of the Fund for the Protection of Lake Baikal, and Vladimir Chernyaev, both Heroes of the Russian Federation. On August 3, during the submergence that lasted about 6 hours, Mir-1 reached the depth of 1.600 meters and Mir-2 – 1,530 meters.

On August 4, the vessels operated at 1.400 meters below the lake surface. The main task of Swiss scientists was to familiarize themselves with the principles of operation of the Mir submersibles and to collect water and sediment samples. After successful completion of submersions the tug vessel Akademik Koptyug and special purpose vessel Metropolia headed for port Turka.