A US Navy sailor was medically evacuated from an American nuclear-powered submarine near Greenland on Saturday, after the vessel surfaced close to Nuuk to allow a rescue operation, according to US and Danish officials.
The submarine broke from its mission and surfaced roughly eight miles off Greenland’s capital — a rare move for a platform designed to remain submerged and operate in secrecy.
The sailor was airlifted by a Danish Defence Seahawk helicopter launched from the patrol ship Vædderen and taken to a hospital in Nuuk. Officials said the medical emergency was not combat-related, though no further details were disclosed.
Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command said the evacuation took place about seven nautical miles off the coast, where the crew member was transferred to the helicopter and flown to the city for treatment.
While such rescues are not unprecedented, public confirmation of a submarine’s location is unusual and reflects the seriousness of the situation.
The incident comes in waters that have grown in strategic importance for military planners, linking sea routes between North America, Europe and Russia and drawing increasing attention as Arctic ice recedes.
It also unfolds at a time of strain in US-Denmark relations after renewed political debate in Washington over the future of Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory with significant strategic and mineral value.
Also late Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy a hospital ship to the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland, alleging that many people there are sick and not receiving care — prompting a defense of Denmark’s health care system from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
“Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, referring to his special envoy for Greenland.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, speaking to public broadcaster DR, said Danish authorities had not been informed that the ship was on its way.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
