– The days and months after the collision are and were the worst period of my life, said the 33-year-old in Hordaland district court on day four of the “Helge Ingstad” trial. The prosecution believes he should be punished for careless navigation when the frigate collided with the tanker “Sola TS” in the Hjeltefjorden. The prosecutor and state prosecutor Magne Kvamme Sylta had played the audio log from the radio communication before the collision, which was subsequently acknowledged. In a police questioning a few weeks after the accident, the accused duty manager was asked if he wanted to listen to the audio recording from the night of the accident and comment on what came out. – I didn’t want that. Going back to look at it then, I wasn’t able to do that, said the 33-year-old on the fourth day of the trial in Hordaland district court. Listen to excerpts from the audio log: Pilot: – Helge Ingstad, can you hear Sola TS? Watch chief: – Helge Ingstad. : – No, then we’re going too close to the e…blocks/lights. The pilot: – Turn to starboard if you’re the one coming here. …., passed e….. the platform we have on starboard. Got it wrong The case against the duty manager is largely about what the duty manager did and perhaps most of all did not do in the eight minutes he was in charge of the bridge before the collision. The watch commander explained again today that he had a fixed picture of the situation: They had three vessels heading towards them on the port side, while the bright lights on the starboard side meant he thought they belonged to a luminous object lying at rest on land. Therefore, when the call came on the radio and he was asked to “starboard at once”, the watch commander believed that it was one of the three vessels on the port side that was speaking to him. – In my head, the closest thing was to believe that it was one of those who wanted a greater passing distance. – Yes, I could have done a lot differently. The prosecution went through the communication on the VHF connection in detail and asked the questions many have wondered after the collision: Why didn’t he look more at the radar, in the binoculars or ask the rest of the bridge for help when the luminous object showed to come closer? He was not able to give good answers to everything. He doesn’t remember some things. Several times he focused again on what Fedje VTS and the tanker “Sola TS” were doing. – Yes, there was a lot I could have done differently, the 33-year-old admitted. BAD COMMUNICATION: The accused watch commander says he got little help from the rest of the crew on the bridge when what he thought was a shining object came closer. At the same time, he had to admit that he did not ask them for help when things escalated. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB – With active use of radar, would the object be shown on the radar then?, asked Sylta. – Yes, it would, answered the defendant. – You were the boss on the bridge. Why didn’t you ask “can anyone see radar?” Assistant, look at the radar!”, almost shouted the public prosecutor in the courtroom. – I could have done that, yes, answered the defendant. – But what are your questions on the radio? Are you asking “why, who is it that asks about starboard”?, also asked the public prosecutor. – No, I don’t. In the situation it was, er, yes. There was a lot I could have done. But I had neither the capacity nor the experience to do that, answered the guard. At times there was a heated atmosphere between the warden and the prosecutor’s office. The warden was engaged and directed, among other things, at the prosecutor when things were said or seen that were misleading or that he thought were not true. Do you think the others on the bridge could have helped more In his free explanation on Wednesday, the watch commander said that when he took over on the bridge at 03.53, he gave the whole crew a status of the situation they had in front of them; three vessels on the port side that came towards and a shining, stationed object on the starboard side. – Then I said: “let me know if there will be any changes to that picture”. Then they could have given feedback if they meant something else. – But I never got any indication from the others on the bridge that the object had left the quay, said the defendant. He also explained that he thought both lookouts, both on the port and starboard sides, were in place when he took over. As previously known, the starboard lookout for the meal break was from 03.41–03.59. THE HANDOVER: This is what it looked like on the bridge when there was a handover barely fifteen minutes before the collision. Raud ring thinks that the starboard lookout was missing and the accused watch commander was not aware of it. Photo: Accident Investigation Board This means that the lookouts on the starboard side were not back until two minutes before the collision. But the defendant did not know that he lacked a starboard lookout, but he assumed that he had one. The public prosecutor wondered why he didn’t make a round and ask if everyone was there, when it’s so dark on the bridge that you can’t necessarily see everyone. – It seems very strange to me. Don’t you need to know who is on the bridge when you come up and need to get control of the situation?, asked Sylta. – Those are the routines I’ve been taught to follow, answered the guard. – Trying to provoke Friday is free of law. On Monday, the questioning of the warden continues, before more witnesses are called in. Between the entire crew who were on the bridge when the collision occurred, as well as the outgoing watch commander. Defendant Christian Lundin says there have been tough days in court for the defendant, who thus denies criminal liability and owes the system failure to several parties. – It is a big burden for him to sit there and try to remember. And sometimes he has the experience that the prosecutor tries to provoke him a little more, but he answers as best he can. – In his explanation, we get the impression that there is very poor communication on the bridge? – It is only natural that the rest of the bridge team is playing badly this night. He doesn’t want to blame others, but everyone has to do their job, says Lundin.
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The duty manager could not listen to the audio log after the accident – news Vestland
