The case in summary: Fisherman Harald Engen (22) from Sommarøya in Troms experienced a nuclear-powered submarine entering his halibut nets. The submarine, USS “Virginia”, had taken with it an entire chain of halibut nets, which resulted in a loss of between NOK 40 and 50,000 for Engen. The coast guard confirmed the incident and explained that it is difficult to see net buoys when the waves are high and there is a slight wind. Engen hopes that there will perhaps be a replacement, as the nets were registered. Despite the loss, there is no bad mood in the village directed at the nuclear submarine. The meadow is left with a blister and a torn rope as a reminder of the incident. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It’s no use getting fired up either, says fisherman Harald Engen to news on Tuesday. The 22-year-old fisherman became the main character in a “net against submarine” incident in the sea off Senja and Kvaløya in Troms on Monday. It was the 7,800-tonne nuclear-powered submarine USS “Virginia” that was on a quick visit to Malangen when the incident occurred. Engen was on his way home to deliver a catch of halibut when word came that a submarine had washed away a whole chain of halibut nets in the sea outside the small fishing village. A rope chain that he and his crew had just set on board the 10.8 meter long barge “Øygut” from Sommarøya. – We had just emptied the nets and put them out again, and were on our way to the fish farm on Brensholmen, when we were called by the coast guard on channel 16 on the VHF radio, explains Engen, and adds: – A submarine had gone in our halibut net, and had transported the entire line of net two nautical miles north into the sea. Dragging halibut nets There are large and fine halibut that are fished on the fishing grounds within Malangsdjupet this autumn. At the fish farm on Brennsholmen, the crew unloaded 29 kilos of small halibut, some flounder and about 176 kilos of halibut weighing between 20 and 40 kilos. The price is good this autumn, with NOK 72 per kilo for the largest halibut. Thus, the value of Monday’s catch was well over NOK 20,000. Despite a valuable catch, it does little good for the crew on board “Øygut” when a 115-metre-long submarine snatches fishing nets, worth between NOK 40 and 50,000, and drags it out to sea. – The yarn link is at the bottom of the sea. It is gone, and we will probably never find it again, explains Harald Engen in despair. On Monday morning, the nuclear-powered nuclear submarine USS “Virginia” entered Malangen, the strait between Senja and Kvaløya. news has spoken to fish buyer, Egil Johansen, in Botnhamn on Senja. He says American submarines regularly receive supplies from other vessels in this sea area. Early in the morning on Monday, KV “Heimdal” was in the area with a light boat and assisted the submarine. It was on the way back to the fish farm on Sommarøya on Monday afternoon that Harald Engen and the crew, on board the barge “Øygut”, received word that a submarine had entered a set of halibut nets just north of Hekkingen. – Had to help them cut The Coast Guard confirms the incident. – It was a submarine that got an ile in the propeller. The Coast Guard helped them to cut the mill loose from the submarine, the Coast Guard’s press officer, Kenneth Dahl, told news. KV “Heimdal” was early on and assisted the nuclear submarine from a light boat on Monday morning. – It just happens as it is that vessels get tangled in nets and snags in the propellers, he explains briefly to news. This is the USS “New Mexico” photographed off Tromsø in 2021. On Monday, the sister ship, USS “Virginia”, a Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, entered a net mill off Sommarøya in Troms. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret – Is it common for nuclear submarines to get rope links in the propeller? – It is difficult to see net buoys when the waves are high and it is a bit windy, he explains. Harald Engen is skipper aboard the sharken “Øygut”. Here he shows on the chart plotter where the submarine took his fishing line. Photo: private. The biggest stingray of all time caught on a halibut net Harald Engen has worked as a fisherman since he was a youth, and in recent years has started with his own shark. Therefore, the costs of NOK 40-50,000 in lost use are quite a lot. – We thought about turning around and starting to look for the mill, when we got the message. But the Coast Guard explained that the nets had been towed over two nautical miles further north, and that the nets had been cut loose, says Engen. At the same time, he has hopes that there will perhaps be a replacement. – The nets were registered, and the Coast Guard has said they will get in touch so that we might get it replaced, he explains. – Surely there will be a good story at the pub on Sommarøya this weekend? – Yes, I have heard of other vessels going over net links, but no one out here has heard of a submarine ever doing that, emphasizes Engen. In the last 24 hours, he has received messages and phone calls from local people and fishermen, who have heard about the incident. – The fishermen overheard the inquiry from the Coast Guard on the VHF radio and the word has spread in the village, explains Engen. At the same time, he emphasizes that there is no bad mood in the village directed at the nuclear submarine that dragged with it the halibut nets of Harald Engen and the crew of “Øygut”. – There is no reason to get fired up about this, concludes Engen. But he is still left with something: a windlass, a twine pole and some cut rope. One memory, and certainly documentation, of perhaps the biggest haul caught on halibut nets off the coast of Troms: one 7,800-tonne and 115-metre-long, nuclear-powered American attack submarine of the Virginia class. Published 12.11.2024, at 21.58 Updated 12.11.2024, at 22.27
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Harald from Sommarøya got a nuclear submarine in the halibut nets – news Troms and Finnmark
