QUESTIONS are being asked at Barrow shipyard this week after a Canadian crewman died in a submarine that had been given an overhaul at the yard.

A fire broke out on the HMCS Chicoutimi on Tuesday leaving it stranded in the Atlantic 120 miles off Northern Ireland without power and with nine sailors suffering from smoke inhalation.

After a major rescue operation in rough seas, 32-year-old father of two Lieutenant Chris Saunders was airlifted from the sub yesterday (Thursday) but died of his injuries.

The MOD and the Canadian Navy have now launched an investigation into why fire struck the HMCS Chicoutimi. It had sailed from Scotland on Monday, just two days after being accepted into the Canadian Navy and after a major refit was completed at Barrow's BAE Systems in August.

The incident is an embarrassment for BAE, the Royal Navy who passed the 1986-built sub as fit to sail, and the Canadian Navy which has come under fire in Canada for buying four Barrow-designed second-hand diesel submarines that have reportedly been plagued by technical problems.

Asked if the stranded HMCS Chicoutimi tarnished the reputation of Furness ship building, BAE's communications officer Marianne Buchannan said it was "inappropriate to comment until the exact cause and nature of the incident was established."