– The case has been a very heavy burden for the warden and his family, says defense attorney Christian Lundin. – He has placed considerable emphasis on the need to put the case behind him and a desire to spare himself, his family and the navy from further burdens. Thus, the case against the warden is finally closed and sealed, after five years of investigation and court cases. New surveillance images published by the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board show the dramatic meeting After the second round of witness statements in court last December, just over six months after the warden was first found guilty, he received the same sentence again: a 60-day suspended prison sentence. The Court of Appeal also held that the defendant should have intervened much earlier to avoid a collision with the tanker “Sola TS” in Øygarden. “The defendant received several signals that something was wrong, as it appears in the form of his own admission. He had immediate access to several alternative effective navigational aids which, with basic use, would have clarified the misconception,” the judgment said. Here the whole ship is under water. The picture was taken on 28 November 2018. Photo: Kystvakten/Forsvaret Kystverket After the accident, the Ministry of Defense received a corporate penalty of ten million kroner. Warnings about a “culture of fear” After its investigation, the Accident Investigation Board believed that the cause of the accident was human failure and a lack of training on the part of all six who were present on the bridge. Nevertheless, it was decided at the time that only the warden could be prosecuted. The decision has not led to changes in the duty manager’s work, says his defender. He still works on a frigate. Lundin says that his client agrees that he made misjudgments, but that he did the best he could “within the system he was supposed to work in”. Here the warden sat in the Gulating Court of Appeal while the many witnesses in the case explained themselves again. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news – The duty manager considered for a long time whether he should appeal in order to put the spotlight on the fundamental question, whether it is right to single out a person in a large system involved in a major accident. – The verdict will probably lead to a culture of fear and under-reporting of near-misses, and will set the important safety work in the navy’s other arms, and other public and private systems, back many years. The Helge Ingstad accident Before the collision between KNM “Helge Ingstad” and the tanker “Sola TS” on 8 November 2018, the frigate participated in the NATO exercise “Trident Juncture” off the Norwegian coast. Heading south, the frigate sailed without AIS being active. During the night, a navigation error occurred when Helge Ingstad thought the oncoming tanker was a stationary oil platform or land. The watch commander and the crew on the frigate had the wrong understanding of the situation on the bridge, it was said several times in court. This understanding of the situation is central to the case: Does it come from the commander of the guard’s decisions, or was it an organizational failure on the part of the Armed Forces? When they realized the mistake, KNM “Helge Ingstad” tried to make an evasive manoeuvre, but it was too late. The frigate collided with the tanker, suffered serious damage and eventually sank. The crew evacuated the ship, and all 137 on board were rescued without serious injury. The incident led to significant material damage and the frigate, worth NOK 4.3 billion, was subsequently sold as scrap metal for NOK 18 million. The case was followed by extensive investigation to determine the cause of the collision. The warden at KNM, “Helge Ingstad”, was the only one to be brought to court. The trial focused on allegations of negligence and errors in decision-making that led to the collision. The prosecution argued that the warden did not act sufficiently to avoid the collision, while the defense argued that he acted according to instructions and that he “did the best he could”. Glad that it has come to an end State Attorney Magne Kvamme Sylta disagrees that the warden as an individual is not responsible. – We have expressed several times that we believe that this is not a system failure as has been claimed, but that mistakes have been made, and that the mistakes have been serious, he says to news. Sylta believes it is fair that the duty manager had to answer for himself as an individual. Photo: Marit Hommedal / NTB – It is a position that we have not changed and for which we have been supported in two courts. As Sylta sees it, the warden has accepted the verdict when he chooses not to appeal. – We are of course happy that the matter can now be put to rest, he adds.
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The supervisor at “Helge Ingstad” is not appealing the verdict to the Supreme Court – news Vestland
