Russian submarine nearly drowned British fishermen

British fishermen reported a possible collision between a British trawler and a Russian submarine in the Irish Sea.

The crew of the fishing vessel reported that on Wednesday an unknown underwater object caught the trawl and dragged the vessel towards the Isle of Man.

According to the head of the Northern Ireland Fishermen’s Association, Dick James, it’s possible that this is a Russian submarine that was following the NATO naval exercises off the coast of Scotland.

The British Department of Defense declined to comment on these allegations.

According to James, fishing boats often catch submarines with their nets. If it were a British submarine, it would have to stop and surface to ensure the safety of the fishermen.

"Skipper Paul Murphy says he waited for 10 minutes for the submarine to surface," Dick James added.

According to the skipper, the crew was busy catching shrimp near the Isle of Man on Wednesday afternoon when the incident occurred.

The fishermen thought that the ship would certainly turn over, and they thought they were lucky. The trawler was moving astern for ten minutes, carried away by a trawl that had been captured by a submarine.

As the skipper says, this unusual trajectory of the vessel’s movement is fixed by three onboard global positioning systems.

The trawler Karen suffered serious hull damage and could cost £10 to repair.

The British authorities do not comment on this incident, but Tim Ripley, who collaborates with the well-known military magazine Jane's Defense, believes that the assumptions about the involvement of the Russian Navy in the incident are quite reasonable.

“The Royal Navy seems to be saying that the submarine is not theirs. He also acts on behalf of NATO as he coordinates the movement of all Allied submarines in British territorial waters,” says Ripley.

“If it's not British or American, it's worth looking east. Maneuvers have been taking place in these waters in recent days. And the Russians are known to like to observe such exercises, and therefore there is a high probability that they sent one of their submarines to the maneuver area,” he concludes.