While on his way back to shore off the coast of Norway, with a load of halibut on board the Øygutt, Norwegian fisherman Harald Engen heard via radio that he had inadvertently managed to snag the biggest catch ever.

The propeller of a 377-foot, 7,800-ton nuclear submarine, the USS Virginia (pictured), had snagged his net — which had just been set, and marked with buoys, before the Øygutt headed ashore — and dragged the net 2 nautical miles out to sea, according to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corp.

“The Norwegian Coast Guard vessel that escorted the submarine out of the harbor quickly helped to remove the entanglement,” the U.S. Navy explained, via the American Embassy in Norway.

Engen was told the net-napping occurred because it’s hard for submarines to see net buoys in wind and high waves. He was tempted to turn around to try to find it, but was told the net had already been cut loose. “The chain of nets is at the bottom of the sea,” Engen lamented. “It’s gone, and we’ll probably never find it again.”

While he bears the Americans no ill will, Engen said, and thinks the incident will make a great pub story, he hopes the costly equipment will be replaced.

A spokesman for the U.S. 6th Fleet, Lt. Pierson Hawkins, told Business Insider that “when the U.S. is responsible for damage to civilian equipment, there is a claims process to reimburse the expense.” Hopefully, sometime before Engen retires.