Amateur Danish sub sinks; owner faces murder charge

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The owner of an amateur-built submarine was arrested on suspicion of murder Friday after his vessel sank off Denmark’s coast and a journalist who had joined him for what was supposed to be a short voyage was reported missing, Copenhagen police said.

Police said in a statement Friday night that the man denied killing the missing woman and reportedly dropped her off on a redeveloped island in Copenhagen’s harbor about 3½ hours into their Thursday night trip.

The statement did not identify the submarine’s owner, Peter Madsen, 46, but the Danish inventor’s financing of the project through crowdfunding and first launch of the UC3 Nautilus in 2008 made headlines.

The 40-ton, nearly 60-foot-long vessel has been described as the largest privately built submarine of its kind.

Before his arrest, Madsen appeared on Danish television to discuss the submarine’s sinking and his rescue. It was the journalist’s boyfriend who alerted authorities early Friday that the sub had not returned from a test run, police said.

“I am fine, but sad because Nautilus went down,” Madsen told Denmark’s TV2 channel, which aired footage of him getting off what appeared to be a private boat and making a thumbs-up sign.

Madsen said “a minor problem with a ballast tank” — a compartment that holds water to provide stability — “turned into a major issue.”