Hordaland district court was on Tuesday inspecting the frigate KNM “Roald Amundsen”. This is similar to KNM “Helge Ingstad”, which sank in 2018 after crashing with the tanker “Sola TS”. The man who is being prosecuted after the collision – the then duty manager – was present at the inspection. He appeared nervous, but followed closely what was explained to the court, nodded in recognition to much of what was said, and recorded questions for his defense counsel. – It was a good experience to be out there, because I experienced good support from the others there, says the guard commander to NTB via his defender Christian Lundin. THE COURT: Ship commander Lars Larsson (left) and watch commander Christoffer Brekke on KNM “Roald Amundsen”, explain to the court about routines on the bridge of a frigate. District court judge Kristin Farstad in the center on the right. Photo: Geir Olsen / POOL / NTB Received by colleagues The former watch commander still works in the Norwegian Navy. He was well received by his colleagues on board “Roald Amundsen” and mostly stayed with them. – It is clear that it is a burden to walk around here and know that everyone knows what this is about, but he experiences a lot of support. You notice that, says Lundin. Prosecutor Magne Kvamme Sylta tells news that the inspection was at the request of the court. – I think they have been asked the questions they had. It is important to be able to form a picture of what it is like to be a watch commander on a bridge, says the state attorney. On the bridge – which is physically identical in design to the bridge on Helge Ingstad – the court also got to see what has changed after the billion-dollar shipwreck. The armed forces have implemented several changes. Read more about the court case here: The radio has been moved Among other things, the radio where the bridge team receives information from the maritime traffic center and other vessels has been moved. It is now closer to where the warden usually stands. – The former location meant that you had to walk a short distance from where you want to stand. It also gave distance to maps and radar, said Christoffer Brekke, watch commander on “Roald Amundsen”. Physically, it was around two meters to walk from the watch commander’s desired position to where the radio was before. Then you move away from the maps and radar screens. This could become a central topic in court. The duty manager’s handling of information from radio, maps, radar and the visuals he could see will be decisive in the prosecutor’s attempt to prove that he acted negligently. RADAR SCREENS: The court was shown instruments and aids available for navigation on a frigate. Photo: Geir Olsen / POOL / NTB Showing the instruments The defenders were initially critical of carrying out an inspection in broad daylight while the frigate was at rest. It does not show the conditions as they were in the November darkness, when the bridge team first thought the lights from “Sola TS” were a fixed object. To news, defense attorney Lundin says that the court then misses out on seeing the interaction between the various functions on the bridge. – The prosecution believes that such an inspection would have been necessary to bring out the full dynamics and the full picture of what was happening on the bridge. But he takes note that it was the second best solution, says Lundin. When the court questioned where the various instruments were on “Helge Ingstad”, the accused watch commander took the floor and showed what it looked like on the sunken frigate. Another change the court was told about is that there were only two radar screens on “Helge Ingstad”, whereas now there are three. This means, among other things, that the watch commander would have lost a radar if he changed one of the screens to show something else. Then the accused warden nodded to himself. FRIGATT: KNM “Roald Amundsen” docked at Haakonsvern. The ship is the sister ship to KNM “Helge Ingstad”, which was cut up after the sinking. Photo: Geir Olsen / POOL / NTB Noise level The court also got to know how the noise level on the bridge is during marching. With the ventilation system on it became difficult to hear what was being said. Warden Brekke also explained how the radio is used. There is an obligation to listen to the emergency channel, while it is also usually the case that the watch commander listens to the radio channel of the maritime traffic center in the area you are in. Among other things, the defenders in the case have directed strong criticism at how both “Sola TS” and Fedje maritime traffic center operated, while the prosecutor makes a point that they sent several warnings to “Helge Ingstad”. – The noise on the radio depends on where you are. On “Helge Ingstad”, the radio was further away, so it might be challenging to hear, said ship commander Lars Larsson during the inspection. Larsson also explained that it is normally the case that the maritime traffic center gives information over the radio if a large tanker is moving in the area – as it was that night in 2018. The court also took note of the cameras that are available from the bridge, including an infrared camera . It was explained to the court that it is not always on and that it takes a couple of minutes to turn on. Team of five Furthermore, the actors went through what the layout of a bridge is usually like. There is a watch commander, an assistant, a helmsman and a lookout post on each side. During the training of the watch commander, there will be an additional person on the bridge. When “Helge Ingstad” sank there were two on training, a watch commander and a watch commander’s assistant. You don’t do that in the Navy anymore. The court also got to see how a change of guard takes place. Then navigator Vincent Haugland, who is a witness in court, explained that only the outgoing and incoming watch commander is allowed to speak during a change of watch. He explained that the first thing a watch commander normally does is make a round to get an overview of everything on the bridge. It can take five to ten minutes, depending on how much else there is to deal with. – It is an additional security mechanism so I myself know what the status is here, said Haugland. Eight minutes had passed since the change of guard when “Helge Ingstad” collided. QUESTION: Navigator Vincent Haugland was a witness in court on Tuesday. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB Asked about radar and AIS use The second court day started with navigator Haugland appearing in the district court in central Bergen. A barely 40-minute long video from the police investigation was shown there. In the video, Haugland gave an explanation of the various functions on the bridge and which aids were available. In his explanation, Haugland was, among other things, very clear that it is the watch commander who is responsible on the bridge, also when training takes place, as it did on the night of the accident. After the video playback, the navigator was asked several questions by the court. It was a lot about radar use and the AIS system. As is known, the frigate sailed with the AIS system in passive mode, which means that they received signals from other vessels but did not send out signals themselves. – The ship’s commander decides which mode we will sail in. But as watch commander, you can change the AIS mode at your own discretion. For example, in a situation with several vessels and you see that it may be appropriate to give information to other vessels, explained the navigator. He further explained in detail about radar use on a frigate. The defenders wanted to know what the navigator would have done if he had detected a radar echo lying on land. The navigator replied that he would double check with the chart and perhaps perform a bearing on the radar. – To see how it moves in relation to you, or start a tracking and get a course confirmed or more information, answered the navigator.
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– It is a burden for the warden to be with the court on inspection – news Vestland
