MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK nuclear sub strikes underwater pinnacle in Red Sea

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the Royal Navy submarine HMS Superb struck an underwater pinnacle whilst on dived passage through the northern Red Sea on Monday 26 May 2008.

"There were no casualties and the submarine remains watertight, is safe on the surface and able to operate under its own power. The submarine's nuclear reactor is completely unaffected, and there is no environmental impact. "Notwithstanding this, from the initial assessment onboard the submarine, it is clear that there is some damage to her main sonar which prevents her conducting submerged operations. Consequently her programme is being re-considered", according to the official Royal Navy website. MOD said no other vessel, military or civil, was involved in the incident. An investigation into how the grounding occurred is underway and a full Board of Inquiry will be conducted in due course. The families of the crew are in the process of being informed. HMS Superb is a Swiftsure-class attack submarine displacing 5,200 tonnes submerged. She is 272ft long and has a complement of 112. Her armament includes spearfish torpedoes. She was built by Vickers Shipbuilding at Barrow and commissioned. British press reports indicate that RN experts were flown to inspect the craft, which is sailing in international waters and unable to dive. HMS Superb was around 80 miles south of Suez when she grounded. The vessel is most likely to be towed to a port in the Red Sea for repairs and the crew evacuated. According to UK media HMS Superb joins a growing list of nuclear sub accidents. The most embarrassing for the British Royal Navy was only revealed recently, when it admitted HMS Trafalgar hit the seabed off Skye in Scotland. A Defense Ministry report showed the £5million accident happened because someone put tracing paper over charts, obscuring vital symbols. In March 2007 the British Navy launched a probe into how a fault in an air purifier killed two sailors on HMS Tireless.