On Friday 8 November 2018, Pål André Gustavson wakes up suddenly in the pitch darkness to a bang. He is in his cabin on KNM “Helge Ingstad” – the frigate where he serves as deputy constable and apprentice cook. A pounding sound comes closer and closer to him. The frigate has just crashed into the tanker KNM “Helge Ingstad”. – I prepare myself for: Now I die instantly, or I drown. This is a fight for survival, he says in the podcast Hele historien. On Monday, the trial against the warden at “Helge Ingstad” starts. The prosecution believes he acted negligently when he was responsible for the navigation of the ship before the accident occurred. An accident where small margins meant that no lives were lost. State prosecutor Magne Kvamme Sylta believes that parts of the seriousness experienced by Gustavson and several others have not come across well enough in the past. – When the collision took place, a number of young people were about to lose their lives. It says something about the seriousness that may not have come across clearly enough before, Sylta has previously told news. KNM “Helge Ingstad” before the accident. Photo: Marius Vågenes Villanger / Forsvaret Svelget seawater – I felt the drama was not reflected in any way. It was about how useless we were in the navy, says Anna Bak, who was a naval officer on the frigate. Both Bak and the apprentice chef Gustavson will testify in the trial. In Gustavson’s cabin, the wall is raised just above the surface of the water by the anchor on the tanker “Sola”. His cabin gets smashed. Helicopter fuel from a pipe that is torn over makes him drenched. Sea spray hits. More people are starting to shout “flooding” – that water is getting in. – I shout “flooding” at the top of my lungs. In the end, I can’t take it anymore and have to stop to swallow seawater, says Gustavson. The side of the ship is folded in and becomes a small platform. Gustavson and several others have to climb onto the edge barefoot in just their boxers. The water rises in the cabin. The apprentice chef is afraid that the torn power cables will give him an electric shock. – I see purple, white and blue lightning running between the high-voltage cables. It sparkles, is close and deadly, he says. Pictures from the inside that have not been published before show extensive damage: The interior of the frigate after the ship shows extensive destruction. One person was shocked when he had to rescue two officers from a cabin. The frigate was so damaged that it was cut into thousands of pieces. An apprentice electrician gets one of the cables out. It short-circuits in the water. The smell of salt water, insulation, helicopter fuel and electrically burned steel is in the air. “People are dead” Above him stands the naval officer Anna Bak. She is trapped in her cabin and convinced that people are dead. – I see there are people down there, hanging over the edge and looking out to sea. I shout it and tell them to “get the hell out now.” But she doesn’t get a response. – So I think “Here are people who have died, here are people who have been thrown and dragged out to sea”, she says. She believes people are dead until after the evacuation of the ship. For Gustavson, the only way out is to get to the deck above. He takes a gamble and climbs up into the gap where the forward side has been – on the outside of the ship. The walls of several cabins were torn up. Photo: Jon Bolstad / news He gets to safety. But he has to go to the emergency room on the frigate to treat deep cuts he got on his legs after the climb. Ten minutes after the collision, the frigate hits land. The frigate of more than 5,000 tonnes stops on the shore. 20 minutes later it becomes clear that all the crew are safe. Eight people have sustained injuries. The crew attempted to pump water out of the frigate. Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB Work on pumping water out of the frigate begins. But that doesn’t help. Evacuation is initiated 45 minutes after the crash. – A lot of tears were shed After the evacuation from the boat, the crew was sent to the Haakonsvern military base. Mattresses, clothes, food, drink and many psychologists are ready. Helge Ingstad after the collision. The frigate suffered a large gash on the starboard side. Photo: news – A lot of tears were shed. It was quiet in there, but you could hear people thinking. I thought a lot about how it could have gone and what we could have done differently, says Bjørn Jøran Moen, who was also on the frigate during the accident. The crew is debriefed several times, but the goal is also for them to quickly get back “on the horse”, i.e. on a ship. The crew themselves helped raise the ship. The frigate ended up completely underwater. Photo: Kystvakten/Forsvaret Kystverket / Kystverket, Kystvakten/Forsvaret Cook apprentice Pål André Gustavson became more motivated to continue in the Defense after the accident, but he has also said that he could wake up in full panic half a year after the accident. He currently works as a pastry chef at a bakery in Oslo. The naval officer Bak was also affected by the accident. – I felt after effects. I reacted very strongly to loud noises in the first weeks and months afterwards, she says in the podcast. “Helge Ingstad” underwater. Photo: Jakob Østheim / Forsvaret Smells can also trigger reactions. – Inside the base at Haakonsvern, I remember the burnt smell of construction work. Then I had a complete flashback and my whole body froze for two seconds. For quite some time I was very conscious of what the fastest way out was. No matter where I was, says Anna Bak.
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