– This accident would not have happened if one of the more experienced watch commanders had been on the bridge that night, says Cato Rasmussen about the collision between the frigate and the tanker. Rasmussen has a long working life behind him in the Norwegian Navy, before he retired in 2020. First as ship commander on MTB. The last 20 years as part of the Norwegian Navy’s Navigation Competence Center (Navkomp). There, they have the task of selecting navigators and making sure that those who steer the ship are good enough. Rasmussen says he has tried several times to sound the alarm that too inexperienced people are given responsibility for navigating the Norwegian Navy’s ships. HANDOVER: This is how the Accident Investigation Board’s presentation of the handover looks like. Vaktsjefane discusses the luminous object they have ahead of the frigate. At this point, both watch commanders believe that there is an object lying at rest at Stureterminalen. Graphics: Norwegian Accident Investigation Board Press to bring out watch commanders On the night of the accident, 8 November 2018, two of the regular navigators at KNM “Helge Ingstad” were on a course in Bergen. This is a further education of one year. Rasmussen believes this created a need to bring in new watch chiefs more quickly than before. The result was a watch commander who did not have the prerequisites to handle the situation that arose in the Hjeltefjorden, believes the former ship commander. – He is cleared too early, absolutely definitely. I’ve never heard of someone who has become a warden after only eight months in the service, says Rasmussen. CHIEF OF THE NAVAL DEFENSE: Rune Andersen cautions against narrowing it down to a causal explanation. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news Changing routines Chief of the Norwegian Navy Rune Andersen points out that the Norwegian Navy has changed the content of the training and clearance of watch commanders after the accident. – Did he have too little experience? – It is implicit in the fact that we have now changed the routines in that field, Andersen says, and adds: – At the same time, we would like to warn against narrowing this down to a causal explanation. Both the Accident Investigation Board and I have uncovered a number of points for improvement that have been worked on. The defendant watch commander himself explained during the trial that he believed he had enough education and competence to be a watch commander on a frigate. Did not experience being taken seriously Cato Rasmussen tells of an incident in April 2018, seven months before the collision in Hjeltefjorden. Then an inexperienced watch commander came close to running a frigate aground near the home base at Haakonsvern. After the incident, Navkomp notified that the watch commander was not competent for the task. But Rasmussen says that he experienced not being taken seriously and that he was silenced for giving notice. Current commander Rune Andersen clarifies that he did not work in the Navy at the time, and that he therefore cannot answer about the specific incident. – But, there is no one who should be silenced or who will be silenced in the Navy if they say something that is worthy of criticism. Quite the contrary. HAAKONSVERN: Rasmussen tells about an incident at Haakonsvern, about seven months before the collision in Hjeltefjorden. Photo: Torbjørn Kjosvold / Forsvaret – People have been pushed up in the past Rasmussen believes the incident is an example of the Navy’s ever-lowering requirements for its watch commanders. – Ten years ago, it was common to have at least two years’ experience before you were approved as a guard. The warden who is on trial after the collision in Hjeltefjorden was cleared after eight months. The reason is a lack of manpower, believes the former officer. – Too few are educated at the Naval Academy. And too many quit. Therefore, people are pushed up earlier. – Have those responsible taken seriously the challenges this can bring? – No, I don’t think they have. The head of the navy replies that they have improved a number of things after the accident in Hjeltefjorden. – We have strengthened both the training of the watch commanders, the content of the training and the way in which we clear out the watch commanders. There is a completely different set-up for watch commander training on frigates than it was before the accident.
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Navigator chief believes the watch commander should never have been cleared – news Vestland
