Black Sea Fleet rejects submarine surfacing reports near French coast
The fleet pointed out that «the submarine crew is currently conducting a routine inter-fleet transfer after performing missions as part of the Russian Navy’s standing task force stationed in the Mediterranean Sea»
MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Media reports alleging that Russia’s Novorossiysk submarine had surfaced off the French coast due to a malfunction are false, the Black Sea Fleet said in a statement.
"Reports by some media outlets of an alleged malfunction that caused the Novorossiysk diesel-electric submarine to make an emergency surface off the coast of France are false," the statement reads.
The fleet pointed out that "the submarine crew is currently conducting a routine inter-fleet transfer after performing missions as part of the Russian Navy’s standing task force stationed in the Mediterranean Sea." "According to the international rules of navigation, submarines are supposed to pass through the English Channel solely in surfaced position," the statement adds.