Norway naval officer goes on trial over oil tanker collision

A Norwegian naval officers is being tried for negligence in the 2018 collision of a warship he commanded with an oil tanker. The military vessel was sunk.

According to a 2019 report, the cost of building a replacement for the Helge Ingstad ship would be as high as 13 billion crowns.

Parts of Norway's petroleum production were also affected by the early morning crash between the Ingstad crude carrier and the loaded Sola TS crude carrier. The oil tanker was not damaged.

The crew of Ingstad, which was 137 strong, described being awakened in the middle of the night by water pouring into their cabins. Alarms went off and they tried to save the ship but were unsuccessful. However, they only sustained minor injuries.

At the time, the defendant was the officer responsible for the bridge of Ingstad.

Magne Kvamme Sylta, the prosecutor, said that "he did not show caution and did not take precautions that safe navigation requires".

Christian Lundin, the defendant's lawyer, said that he believes he was unfairly blamed and would plead not guilty.

Recordings of the communication between the vessels revealed that the slower Sola asked the faster Ingstad several times to change its course or risk collision. However, the navy ship declined the request because it feared too close to shore.

Later, a commission investigating the collision stated that the brightly lit Sola TS could have been difficult for the terminal nearby to where it had left off, confusing Ingstad crew.

Video footage from the tanker shows sparks flying when the two collided. This caused a gash on the side of warship which was then recycled as scrap metal. The damage to the tanker was minor.

The collision revealed safety gaps in the Norwegian navy's training and risk assessment systems, as well as inadequate training. Later, the defense ministry was fined 10 million crowns.

Share this article: