– The warden has made a mistake, but my question is why it could happen. I don’t find those answers at the individual level, but at the system level. This was said by the head of the Norwegian Navy, Rune Andersen, when he testified in the trial after the “Helge Ingstad” accident on Monday. The commander of the watch on the frigate is alone on trial for having caused the accident. The prosecutor believes that he was negligent, and that this was the reason that “Helge Ingstad” collided with a tanker on 8 November 2018. The defenders of the watch commander believe that much of the accident happened due to system errors. BLAME: Can one person be punished for the “Helge Ingstad” accident? That is the question the Hordaland district court must deal with. The trial entered its fifth week today. Photo: Kystverket, Kystvakten/Forsvaret – Counterproductive if one is blamed Andersen became head of the Norwegian Navy in 2020. When the accident happened he was head of the Navy. He believes that the accident could have been avoided. – This accident should not have happened, could have been avoided, and has affected us a lot. It not only points to concrete things, but also the culture surrounding maritime security in the Norwegian Navy, Andersen said. Andersen admits to news that the security culture in the Navy was too poor. – It rhymes very badly that one person is accused. I am concerned that it may be counterproductive if the aftermath of this accident is that one person is blamed. There are many things to deal with in a major accident, he said in court. DESTROYED: The frigate “Helge Ingstad” was one of the Norwegian navy’s great prides. The ship had to be scrapped after the accident. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB – The commander of the watch did the best he could The head of the navy joins the ranks of military personnel who support the commander of the watch. In the past, both the captain of “Helge Ingstad”, several of the crew on board and the trade union have spoken in the same vein. In court, prosecutor Benedikte Høgseth said right from the start that the watch commander acted contrary to good seamanship. – His omission was not the result of system failure, but individual decisions. He was negligent, she said on the first day. Høgseth raised this point again today. She asked the head of the navy if he believes that negligence should never be punished. – No, I don’t want to say that. I can imagine situations where someone has obviously acted negligently, and contrary to our instructions and customs. But that is not how I experience this case, he replied. – That there is a fundamentally different situation here? asked prosecutor Høgseth. – Yes. My understanding is that the warden did his best but fell short. I feel that the moments uncovered after the accident hit us as a system more strongly, he said. PROSECUTOR: State prosecutors Benedikte Høgseth and Magne Kvamme Sylta are the prosecutors in the case. Photo: Jon Bolstad / news Assesses the line of openness He believes that the Navy has prioritized being open about the accident from day one. He told how they facilitated an investigation by both the police and the National Accident Investigation Board, so that they could learn from the incident. The aim was to prevent accidents at sea. The Chief of the Navy believes that it is unfair that the investigation could end with one individual alone being held responsible for the accident. – A sentence where one individual is convicted will not be helpful for maritime safety. When the trial is over, we must ask ourselves whether in the future we can be so open and self-examining if it ends with punishment, he said. When asked directly by news whether they would be less open in the event of a future incident, Andersen replied: – We will make sure to be open also in the event of other incidents. But it is a societal perspective that is about how society should investigate and prevent future accidents. I believe that the investigations that we and the Accident Investigation Board have carried out are the important thing, he says.
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The head of the navy believes that a system error caused the “Helge Ingstad” watch commander to make a mistake – news Vestland
