Snort What They Thought It Was

[mrmoshe]

Snort what they thought it was

Scores of Sydneysiders woke to the sight of thick white smoke coming from a Collins-class submarine off Sydney's northern beaches this morning, but their fears of a fire were unfounded - it was just the ageing sub's batteries recharging.

Water police were inundated with calls from concerned residents shortly after 7am when thick diesel smoke was seen coming from the vessel off the coast of Broken Bay.

But a Defence Department spokeswoman said the smoke was not the result of a fire or terrorist attack, but a standard procedure called surface snorting.

"Surface snorting is a standard operation," the spokeswoman told smh.com.au.

"When the vessel charges its batteries an amount of diesel exhaust is released."

She said the procedure was carried out by the vessel, along with another sub, the Rankin, as part of a move from Jervis Bay to the navy's eastern suburb's base.