Copenhagen police say the owner of an amateur built submarine that sank in Denmark’s water has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the disappearance of a Swedish journalist who had been a passenger on his vessel.
Police said in a statement Friday night that the man has denied killing the missing woman and said he dropped her off on an island on Thursday night.
The statement did not identify the owner, Peter Madsen, but he appeared on Danish television Friday to discuss the submarine’s sinking.
Deputy Police Inspector Jens Moller Jensen says investigators are looking for witnesses who may have seen the woman after the time Madsen reported she disembarked. She also was not identified by name.
The police statement says the submarine is lying in seven feet of water but divers have not been able to enter it safely yet.
The owner of a large, privately built submarine that sank south of Copenhagen says the vessel went down after a minor problem with a ballast tank turned into a major issue.
Peter Madsen built the UC3 Nautilus and launched it in 2008. It was considered the largest privately submarine of its kind in the world.
After being rescued by the Danish navy on Friday, the 46-year-old Madsen told Denmark’s TV2 channel “I am fine, but sad because Nautilus went down.”
The ballast tank is a compartment that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide stability for a vessel.
Madsen said that once the problem with the ballast tank started, “It took about 30 seconds for Nautilus to sink and I couldn’t close any hatches or anything.”
He added: “I guess that was pretty good because I otherwise still would have been down there.”
The Danish navy says a crowdfunded, amateur-built submarine that was missing in Danish waters has sunk south of Copenhagen, but the owner and builder who was alone onboard is safe.
The navy initially said the 40-ton, nearly 18-meter-long (60-foot-long) UC3 Nautilus was “found sailing” south of Copenhagen on Friday. However, navy press spokesman Anders Damgaard later said it had sunk and owner Peter Madsen “taken over to one of our ships.”
Damgaard declined to give details.
Footage aired on Denmark’s TV2 channel showed the 46-year-old Madsen, 46, getting off what looked to be a private boat and making a thumbs up sign as he walked away. It was not clear why the submarine sank.
A privately built submarine that was feared missing in Danish waters has been found and the crew is safe, the Danish navy said Friday.
The 40-ton, nearly 18-meter-long (60-foot-long) submarine with at least two people on board was “found sailing” south of Copenhagen, the navy tweeted. It called off the search for the UC3 Nautilus submarine in the area from Copenhagen to the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm with two helicopters and three ships.
Navy spokesman Christer Haven earlier had said members of the public with boats and sonar equipment were urged to take part in the search.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the submarine crew failed to respond to radio contact.
The Danish navy says it is searching for a 40-ton, nearly 18-meter (60-foot) -long, privately built submarine in the waters off Copenhagen with at least two people on board.
Navy spokesman Christer Haven says two helicopters and three ships are taking part in the search for the UC3 Nautilus submarine in the area from Copenhagen to the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm.
Haven says members of the public with boats and sonar equipment have also been urged to take part in the search.
He said the search started after authorities got a call early Friday that the submarine had not returned to Copenhagen as planned. Owner Peter Madsen, who built the vessel that was launched in 2008, is believed to be on board along with a reporter.
An amateur-built submarine financed through crowdfunding sunk in Denmark’s waters on Friday and the owner was found safe onboard, the Danish navy said. However, a Swedish journalist who had been on the vessel is reported missing.
Peter Madsen, who built the UC3 Nautilus submarine that first was launched in 2008, was taken aboard a military ship, navy spokesman Anders Damgaard said. He declined to give further details.
Footage aired on Denmark’s TV2 channel showed the 46-year-old Madsen getting off what appeared to be a private boat and making a thumbs-up sign as he walked away.
“I am fine, but sad because Nautilus went down,” he told Denmark’s TV2 channel. Madsen said “a minor problem with a ballast tank … turned into a major issue” that ultimately caused the vessel — considered the largest privately built submarine of its kind — to sink.
Swedish police said they are investigating the whereabouts of a missing woman who had been on the submarine at some point.
“Whether the woman was on board the submarine at the time of her disappearance is unclear,” police said in a statement.
The woman was a journalist writing about Madsen and his submarine, Swedish and Danish media reported.
“He told us that the journalist who also had been on board had been dropped off Thursday evening,” Damgaard told The Associated Press. “They were the only two on board yesterday.”
It was the woman’s boyfriend who alerted authorities the submarine was missing early Friday. Two helicopters and three ships combed the sea from Copenhagen to the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm.
The navy also encouraged members of the public with boats and sonar to search, too.
“It took about 30 seconds for Nautilus to sink, and I couldn’t close any hatches or anything,” Madsen said. “But I guess that was pretty good because I otherwise still would have been down there.”
The ballast tank is a compartment that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide stability for a vessel.
The navy initially said the sub was “found sailing” south of Copenhagen. But Damgaard later said the 40-ton, nearly 18-meter-long (60-foot-long) submarine had sunk.
Madsen “told us he had technical problems” to explain why the submarine failed to respond to radio contact, Damgaard said.
Danish media reported police sent divers down to the submarine. There were no official comments.
AP