Fishermen set out to catch halibut... and net a US nuclear submarine! 7,800-tonne vessel drags fishing crew's net for two miles off Norway

Norwegian sailors who set out for a routine fishing expedition made an unexpected and utterly sensational catch earlier this week when they managed to entangle an American nuclear-powered attack submarine.

The Øygutt, or 'Island Boy', a humble 10-metre-long fishing vessel, left port on the stunning village of Sommarøy high above the Arctic Circle on Monday.

Having scooped hundreds of kilos of fish in a lucrative haul worth some £1,500 that morning, they redeployed the nets for a second load.

But moments later the trawling equipment was torn clean off the side of the ship by the unsuspecting USS Virginia - a 7,800-ton, 115-meter-long fast-attack behemoth.

The state-of-the-art submarine - the lead ship of its class - was sailing silently through the waters northeast of Sommarøy having recently left the Arctic city of Tromsø when it inadvertently swept up the entire line of halibut nets.

Harald Engen, one of a three-member crew aboard Øygutt, told Norway's NRK how they had just re-set the nets and were making their way back to shore when the coast guard radioed in on VHF channel 16.

'A submarine had gotten into our halibut nets and had towed them two nautical miles northward into the open sea,' Engen recounted, still in disbelief.

The young fishermen now have an excellent story to tell - but lament the destruction of their nets which are now lost to the bottom of the sea.

The dinky fishing boat was of course no match for the state-of-the-art submarine, which tore the nets away from the hull before calling for help. 

Though their first haul of halibut and plaice put more than 20,000 Norwegian kroner in their pocket, the nets torn away by the USS Virginia are worth some 40,000-50,000 kroner.

'The (net) is at the bottom of the sea. It is gone, and we will probably never find it again,' a pained Engen told The Barents Observer.

The US Navy's nuclear submarines are rarely seen so close to the surface, making this incident all the more unusual.

'I know about other vessels that have sailed over fishing nets, but no one out here has ever heard about a submarine doing so,' Engen said. 

The USS Virginia, part of a class of fast-attack submarines, is also equipped with advanced sonar and stealth technology, capable of reaching extreme depths and carrying a range of torpedoes and Tomahawk missiles.

But for all its sophisticated equipment, even this cutting-edge vessel was scuppered by a simple fishing net.

Fortunately, the Norwegian Coast Guard was able to deploy aboard the ship Heimdal and cut the yarn free of the submarine's propeller.

The USS Virginia and its counterparts are part of the US Navy's 6th Fleet, a forward-deployed unit responsible for missions across Europe and Africa, including the so-called 'High North'.

The 6th Fleet regularly conducts operations in the Arctic and North Atlantic given the Arctic's rise to prominence as a strategically vital region.

Norway, one of Europe and NATO's most well-equipped and advanced nations in terms of its mastery of Arctic exploration, research and military operations, works closely with the US and regularly hosts its these submarines, often to resupply or undergo maintenance.

Every two years, Norway also hosts 'Nordic Response' - a set of large-scale military drills led by its armed forces in cooperation with troops, air forces and navies from various NATO countries. 

In a statement following this week's incident, the US 6th Fleet expressed its gratitude to Norway for its continued support, acknowledging the assistance of Heimdal in freeing the submarine.

'We appreciate Norway's continued support for US submarine deployments, which are essential to deterring and defending against an increasingly complex security environment,' a Navy spokesperson commented.

The Arctic has been considered a potential theatre for conflict ever since the Cold War as the US and Soviet Union each recognised the most direct route for a nuclear strike on the other was over the North Pole.

They have maintained a robust submarine presence in the region ever since.

But now, with the Arctic region undergoing unprecedented changes due to climate change, the melting of the ice is opening up a massive new frontier, unlocking a treasure trove of previously untapped natural resources, new trade routes and strategic superiority. 

While the West faces numerous challenges in asserting its interests in the High North, Russia has strategically positioned itself at the front of the race for Arctic dominance. 

One of the key areas where Russia has taken the lead is in icebreaker technology.

Icebreakers are indispensable tools in navigating the Arctic's icy waters, and Russia boasts the world's largest and most advanced fleet, exemplifying its commitment to controlling new shipping routes and exploiting new arenas for resource extraction. 

'Russia has a significant advantage [in the Arctic] level with dozens of active icebreakers, including nuclear-powered variants. China is also building up its fleet,' RAND Europe defence analyst and European security expert Nicolas Jouan said.

'The UK and the US respectively have one and two active icebreakers. This is probably the key capability gap between NATO and its competitors at the moment.'

Russia has also invested huge funds into the development of military infrastructure in the Arctic Circle since 2014.

More than 50 Soviet-era Arctic bases including airfields, radar stations, cargo ports, missile launch pads and naval yards have been renovated, while others - including dozens of airfields in the Kola Peninsula some 200 miles east of Finland - have been expanded to host larger forces, including nuclear bombers and missiles.

Some have been adapted to house Moscow's state-of-the-art military technology - the Plesetsk Cosmodrome was used in 2021 for a test-launch of Russia's latest satellite-killer missile and was in 2022 used to launch Sarmat-2, one of its most fearsome intercontinental ballistic missiles.

And Russia's nuclear arsenal is embedded within its Northern Fleet - the headquarters of which are located in Severomorsk, a city within the Arctic Circle. 

Rob Clark, a British Army veteran who now heads the defence research team at UK think-tank Civitas, told MailOnline: 'We need to wake up to the threat posed by Russian expansion in the Arctic – while all eyes are on Ukraine, Russia is testing new-age nuclear subs and hypersonic missiles in the Arctic and building up its presence in the region.'

But not only is Russia enhancing its technological and military capabilities to the north - it is also working to destabilise the operations of other Arctic nations via a mix of cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.

Alaska, Norway, Canada and Finland have all suffered a spate of what they say were Russian-authored cyberattacks in the past three years, with other territories such as Iceland and Greenland reporting a surge in 'suspicious internet traffic' since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.