A Norwegian fishing trawler caught a Soviet submarine in its nets Thursday, and the two vessels were expected to spend the night entangled, a defense official said.

Navy Capt. Stig Morten Karlsen of the Norwegian Supreme Defense Command said neither vessel was in danger. But darkness and a fierce storm in the Barents Sea made it impossible for crews to go on deck to free the 2,000-ton conventional submarine."It is under control. They just can't do anything. Probably not until morning," Karlsen said by telephone.

He said the vessels were in international waters, about 57 miles northeast of the town of Vardoe, on Norway's northern coast.

The Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine, which carries a crew of 75, was submerged on a routine patrol from a Soviet base at Murmansk when it got snared in the nets of the trawler T.O. Senior, Karlsen said.

The submarine put up no fight and surfaced at once, cooperating with the fishermen. "It's totally different than the last time," said Karlsen.

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On Aug. 13 another entangled Soviet submarine dragged a fishing boat backward, cut free and fled without identifying itself.

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