NEW SA SUB MALFUNCTIONS DURING TRAINING
An SA National Defence Force submarine experienced a malfunction during training in Norwegian waters on Tuesday, the SANDF said.
Submarine S101 was conducting sea training in Norwegian waters with a German Navy team onboard in preparation for return to South Africa when a technical malfunction occurred, Rear Admiral Rusty Higgs said on Wednesday.
Nobody was injured and the S101 -- known by its serial number until it is named -- was travelling to Kiel in Germany for further information to be gathered.
"At this stage we do not have the picture yet... it's a little bit too early," Higgs told Sapa.
"We were told that there was a technical malfunction and in the spirit of the people's navy we are keeping people in the picture," he said.
It is not know whether the boat's mid-February voyage to South Africa will still take place.
The submarine -- one of three type 209 submarines commissioned from Germany -- was symbolically handed over to Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota in November and had been in training in the deep Norwegian waters.
The three boats replace the obsolete Daphne class submarines, the last of which was taken out of service in November 2003.
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25 Janvier 2006 à 16:11 dans
- zsandf (anglais)
