Published time: 8 Sep, 2015 10:36
Edited time: 8 Sep, 2015 12:25

http://www.rt.com/uk/314709-british-sub-trawler-russian/

The UK Ministry of Defence admits that a submarine that damaged a British trawler in April this year was one of its own, not Russian. Earlier, Fleet Street was awash with speculation that a ‘hostile Russian sub’ had nearly destroyed the fishing vessel.

“…the RN [the Royal Navy] has now confirmed that a UK submarine was, in fact, responsible for snagging the KAREN's [fishing vessel] nets,” Penny Mordaunt, minister of state for the Armed Forces, said in a statement.

The fishing vessel KAREN sustained damage to its nets and deck equipment while in the Irish Sea after it was dragged violently by unidentified vessel.

“It is standing Ministry of Defence [MOD] policy not to comment in detail on submarine operations but, exceptionally, I can say that this incident occurred because the [UK] submarine did not correctly identify the KAREN as a fishing vessel with nets in the water, and thus did not give her the berth she would otherwise have had.”

According to Mordaunt, if the British submarine was aware of the incident at the time, “which it was not,” then the protocols … “would have required the submarine to surface and remain on scene while the matter was investigated.”

She added that the MoD has already contacted the KAREN's owners “to discuss appropriate compensation.”

READ MORE: ‘Begging’ for help: UK asks US to assist in search for Russian sub off Scotland

Before the official statement, British media was abuzz with speculation about which country owned the vessel that damaged the KAREN. Many media reports were certain it must have been a ‘Russian submarine’.

Russian Submarine Blamed For Snagging Trawler: The Karen was suddenly dragged backwards when a submarine appar... http://t.co/kBXshlIJIw

— E.Newsman (@NewsmanE) April 16, 2015

"There has been Russian activity. There have been Allied exercises going on, the Russians have been taking an interest in it. The question mark now is what kind of a submarine was it?" Dick James, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers' Organization told the Telegraph back in April.

Later, the Mirror in its article “Fishing trawler seconds from tragedy after being dragged down by 'Russian submarine' caught in nets” also cited James.

More at source.

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