The now 34-year-old man was watch commander on the Norwegian Navy’s frigate KNM “Helge Ingstad” during the collision with the tanker “Sola TS”. The appeal case is now before the Gulating Court of Appeal. In the district court, the warden was sentenced to a suspended prison term of 60 days for negligence. Today he finished his explanation, after numerous questions from professional judges and the state attorney. Also today, the warden appeared in court in uniform. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news Eight minutes He wasn’t really supposed to start his shift until 04:00 on 8 November 2018. But since he woke up a little earlier, he went up on the bridge and took over the shift with the outgoing shift commander a little earlier. At 03.53 the change of guard is registered. The collision occurred at 04.01. It is these eight minutes that are in focus when the prosecution must clarify to the court who is responsible for what, and what happened in which order. The duty manager was responsible for training the new duty manager in the minutes before the accident occurred. – It was the watch commander under training who led the ship, but I always have the opportunity to review decisions, he told the court today. – In short, we have no formal training in how to learn further. It is based on experience. Graphics: Norwegian Accident Investigation Board – I am responsible for the navigation The formalities show that the actual command was not taken over until he shouted “hard to port!”, and the helmsman obeyed orders. It was seconds before it slammed. – But it is clear that I am the one responsible for the navigation on the bridge also for training purposes, he said in court. During the eight minutes the watch had lasted, there were several alarms on the radar, but none that warned that “Sola TS” was on a collision course. For that to happen, the crew had to have marked the boat as an “acquired target”. This was not done, since they perceived that this was an object lying at rest on land. State prosecutor Magne Kvamme Sylta believes that the warden had room for maneuver which he did not use. – He could have reduced his speed, he could have carried out closer investigations and used other optical or radar technical aids, says the public prosecutor. State Attorney Magne Kvamme Sylta is the prosecutor in the appeal case. Photo: Jon Bolstad / news – Did you even consider adjusting the speed down? asks Sylta. – No, is the straight answer. – In an optimal and perfect world I would reduce the speed, but in this case I did not know who was the sender on VHF. None of the people on the bridge team made any corrections to my understanding either. One of the co-judges asks if he thought he would collide with land or the object if he turned to starboard. – Yes, replies the warden. Losen: – Helge Ingstad, can you hear Sola TS? The duty manager: – Helge Ingstad. Losen: – Are you the one coming here? The warden: – Yes, that’s right. The pilot: – Take to starboard at once. The warden: – No, then we go too close to the… blocks/lights. The pilot: – Turn to starboard if you are the one coming here. The watch commander: – Eg…a couple of degrees to starboard over as soon as we have passed e…, passed e….. the platform we have on starboard. The Norwegian Defense Forces lost one of its five frigates in the accident. Photo: Coast Guard Didn’t know who sent messages on VHF Sylta wanted to know more about VHF communication. In this sea area, the ships are obliged to listen to channel 16 as the emergency channel and channel 80 which is the working channel of Fedje VTS. – What did you think when you heard the name of your ship on this channel? Did it trigger anything? asks Sylta. – When I hear Ingstad, I respond as quickly as I can, says the watch commander. – Did it appear trivial that Ingstad was mentioned? – Yes, I only heard talk of Helge Ingstad. It in itself is not an alarm button. The audio log shows that the pilot on the tanker said “Must turn starboard immediately”. – When you are asked to go to starboard, it is an order, or at least it appears as an imperative, says the public prosecutor. – I don’t perceive it to be as sharp as what you are presenting now. When I read it here, it looks like that, yes, but that’s not how we perceived it on board. We did not know who the sender on the VHF was. I think we had eight calls in 12 seconds, replies the duty manager. KNM “Helge Ingstad” eventually sank completely after the collision and the rescue attempt. Photo: Kystverket, Kystsvakten/Forsvaret – Does not show the situation as it was After the collision between “Helge Ingstad” and “Sola TS”, the police, the Norwegian Defense Forces and the investigators sailed the same route and tried to recreate what could be seen. Not as a reconstruction, but to observe. – It is challenging to comment on photos from an observation cruise, which do not show what the situation really was, and then comment on it five years after the incident. That’s what the warden said in the last part of his explanation in the Court of Appeal today. In one of the pictures, the tanker is so far out in the fjord that you can see the light from Jona’s lantern. Based on common navigational knowledge, it must be understood that there is sea between Stureterminalen, Gjona lighthouse and the “object”. The warden replied affirmatively to this, but maintained that the picture did not look like this on the evening in question. – The pictures (from the observation cruise) show different situations, but these do not correspond to what actually happened, said the watch commander in court today. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news “Bombarded with questions” His defense attorney Christian Lundin says the warden has been “bombarded with questions” in court today. – He has explained that he acted to the best of his ability, but did not believe that there was a collision with a vessel – even after the collision. And there were several of those on the bridge who didn’t understand it either. The captain of the tanker also tried to warn with a flashing searchlight – a so-called aldis lamp. No one on the frigate saw this, due to the deck lighting on the tanker. In the morning, the watch commander who handed over the watch to the defendant will explain himself to the court. He has previously said that he thought the defendant had picked up the name “Sola TS” during the review. The outgoing commander had not realized that the tanker had signaled itself ready for departure over the radio. Even after the collision, the watch commander did not believe that the frigate had collided with a tanker, says defender Christian Lundin. Photo: Jon Bolstad / news
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The supervisor at KNM “Helge Ingstad” thought he hit something other than a boat – news Vestland
