On the first day of week three of the trial after the ship collision in the Hjeltefjorden, it was the turn of the much talked about American officer. She was on exchange from the US Navy and received training as a watch commander at KNM “Helge Ingstad”. On Monday she testified in Hordaland district court via video link from San Diego in California in the USA. For her, it was around 01.30 when the prosecutor started the questioning. She was dressed in a service uniform and had big glasses on. Early on in her testimony, she had to wipe away a tear. At the time, she had said that she did not realize that the “Sola TS” was a tanker they were on a collision course with, until the now-accused watch commander, according to her, shouted “hell” just a second before. – It is very difficult to explain how I thought then. I was probably scared? But it is difficult to formulate something about how the atmosphere was just then, she said, strongly moved, with her eyes fixed on the PC that transmitted sound and images from the USA to the district court in Bergen. BRIDGE: This is how the bridge on the frigate was manned when the collision occurred. Photo: Accident Investigation Board Got the easiest routes to sail She otherwise had trouble remembering details from the night of the accident over four years ago. State prosecutor Magne Kvamme Sylta therefore often had to read her explanations in the police hearing immediately after the accident. Of the three who were watch commanders undergoing training on the frigate that autumn, she described herself as the least experienced. This was the crew on the bridge when the collision occurred Photo: Accident Investigation Board The others on the bridge have all been called in as witnesses in the trial in Hordaland district court. In addition, the outgoing warden must also testify. Duty manager: Male (33). Was 29 years old and was approved as a guard just eight months before the collision. Graduated from the Naval Academy and was approved as watch commander after three quarters of a year in training at “Helge Ingstad”. Warden in training: Woman (born in 1989). American officer, who sailed the ship while the watch commander was responsible for navigation and training. Had worked on Norwegian frigates since 2017 and gathered experience in navigation. On the night of the accident, she had been on the bridge since 02.18. The warden’s assistant: Woman (24). Was 20 years old when the collision happened. Had started as an apprentice sailor in the Navy after first service and had been on board the frigate for 14 months. The warden’s assistant in training: Male (23). Was 19 years old when the collision occurred. In first service and was a sailor’s apprentice. Mønstra on board around 14 days before the collision. Starboard lookout: Female (24). Was 20 years old the night of the collision. In the first service. Started on duty at 02.00 and first spent an hour as port lookout, then helmsman. Went to eat dinner at 03.51 and returned at 03.59 and took over as starboard lookout. Port lookout: Man (24). Was 20 years old when the collision happened. Also in the first service and muster on board the frigate eight months before the collision. Helmsman: Male (24). Was 20 years old when the collision happened. In first service and enlisted on board the frigate four months before the accident. Took over as helmsman at 03.48. He perceived earlier than the others that the “luminous object” was a vessel in motion, but assumed that both the watch commander and the watch commander’s assistant were aware of this. Just before the collision, he also realized that they were on a collision course and stood up to be ready to carry out helm orders. The outgoing watch commander is a man (34) who had been a navigator on several frigates for the Norwegian Navy and had a civilian education in nautical. Had also been on board the Skjold class for three years, as well as sailing on civilian vessels along the Norwegian coast for one year. He had the responsibility as watch commander on the frigate on watch that ran from midnight to 04:00 on the night of the accident, but had therefore handed over responsibility to the incoming watch commander at 03:53. Source: Norwegian Accident Investigation Board’s interim report 1. She also said that she was given routes to sail that were suited to her level of experience and that it was the now defendant watch commander who decided which routes she was to sail. – Have you explained to the police that you were going to sail the easiest routes?, asked state prosecutor Magne Kvamme Sylta. – Yes, that’s right, answered the American officer. The American, who is now 33 years old and works on a vessel in the US Navy, confirmed that on the night of the accident she had training where the aim was to navigate as much as possible with her own sight, rather than using aids such as radar. – It was primarily a visual exercise, with a focus on optical bearings. It was more than studying radar that was important, prosecutor Sylta quoted from one of the police interviews. – Yes, it was tailored to what I was going to learn and where I was in my training course, she herself added in court. Went into shock She too, as the outgoing warden and the accused warden have explained, thought the bright lights from “Sola TS” came from something that was on or near land. She therefore had the same erroneous picture of the situation as almost everyone on the bridge had. The shock was therefore great when the contours of the tanker revealed themselves and she realized that it was too late. – I think it’s just the answer for me. It was extremely shocking. There were ten thousand things happening at the same time, yet everything went very slowly, she told the court, again clearly moved. From the police interview it emerged that she was sent away from the bridge shortly after the collision. She had gone into shock and was therefore “of no use to anyone”. – She was too overwhelmed by the collision. She was shaking quite strongly and was sent down to the officers’ mess to receive medical attention, the prosecutor read from the police station. – That is right. It’s not the kind of reaction you want to get when something like this happens, but I’m grateful that someone saw that I needed help, she said. Look at the police station: – The bridge froze – It was not pleasant. It was absolutely terrible, said the economics student (24) before she burst into tears in the witness box. She was 20 years old, had just finished her first class and had just returned to the bridge after having dinner. For barely two minutes, she had the role of starboard lookout before the collision occurred. As is known, the post was unmanned for several minutes before that. Both lookouts who explained themselves in court on Monday said that it was the watch commander under training who approved that they could take turns going for short meal breaks in the minute before the collision. – The first thing I did when I got back was to look over the starboard side. I saw no vessel. I looked directly at what I now know was “Sola TS”. But I didn’t see a boat, she testified in court. She describes the deck light from the tanker as very strong and that she therefore thought it was a quay. Her misunderstanding disappeared too late. – It seems that the bridge is frozen. The crew realizes that they are going to crash. It gets very quiet on the bridge, prosecutor Sylta read from the police statement to the woman. – There wasn’t much else to do at that time. I still thought we couldn’t go starboard and then we couldn’t go port either, she told the court. Thought for a long time that they had collided with the quay. Until last Monday, it was the man standing on the port lookout who explained himself to Hordaland district court. For him, too, the details are hazy from the night of the accident. And he too thought the bright lights from the tanker came from an “industrial area” on land. In fact, he thought so for several hours after the collision, the grounding and the rescue operation. – The witness was not aware that it was a tanker until they returned to Haakonsvern, prosecutor Sylta quoted from the police interview with the now 24-year-old man. Furthermore, it emerged that he had a “stomach ache” when he realized what was about to happen. – I only understood the seriousness quite close to the collision. The warden screamed, or shouted, “Damn it”. There was a bit of a “what’s going on now?” atmosphere on the bridge. He is also an economics student today. He gave the best compliments to the warden for the time they had together at KNM “Helge Ingstad”. – I sailed a lot with him and had good experiences with it. He is very professionally strong and “on the ball”, explained the witness. On Tuesday, ship commander Preben Ottesen will testify in Hordaland district court.
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American officer went into shock and had to be removed from the bridge – news Vestland
