The German Navy’s newest Type 212 submarine, the U36, reportedly came into contact with the sea bottom as it was departing the Royal Norwegian Navy base Haakonsvern.
German news site Der Spiegel first reported the accident, citing navy officials.
Video footage of the damage is currently being assessed in order to determine whether the boat could return to sea, according to the report.
At the time of the accident, the U36 was on a five-month training deployment in Norway , which started in January this year.
The training deployment is part of the bilateral cooperation between German and Norway, two partners in the procurement of six Type 212 CD (Common Design) submarines .
U36 is the second German Type 212 submarine to be damaged in Norwegian waters in less than two years. In October 2017, the fifth submarine in the class – U35 – damaged its X-shaped rudder during deepwater tests off the coast of Norway.
Following the U35 accident, the German Navy was briefly left with no operational submarines in its fleet. The U36 was the first to return to sea in 2018, followed by U31 and U33.