– It was a trend to urgently clear watch commanders for seven to ten years before the accident. It was a concern I had for many years.
The witness Cato Rasmussen has – with his 35 years in the Navy – been both navigator and commander on the navy’s missile torpedo boat (MTB).
For many years he was an instructor at the Naval Academy, with particular responsibility for navigators on the Navy’s vessels. On Thursday, he testified in the trial against the accused warden after the Ingstad accident.
Norwegian record
– Any watch commander with a little more experience would have handled the situation in Hjeltefjorden in a completely different way, says Rasmussen.
TRIDENT JUNCTURE: Here, KNM “Helge Ingstad” sails on the horizon during the NATO exercise Trident Juncture, just over a week before the accident. Photo: Andre Maillet
One of the causes of the accident, which is regularly pointed to, was the very inexperienced watch commander and bridge crew on board the frigate that night.
The head of the watch, the now 33-year-old lieutenant captain, has also explained in court that he experienced pressure to be quickly cleared in the position of head of the watch.
– It was an expectation, both from the vessel and myself, said the defendant.
After only eight months in training, he was cleared as watch commander in April 2018. In the aftermath of the accident, the Norwegian Navy has tightened the rules.
– It must be some kind of Norwegian record for fast clearance, says Rasmussen to TV 2, who has trained dozens of navigators.
– We who worked at the Naval Academy’s navigation center could hardly believe it when we heard it, he says.
WAY TOO EARLY: Cato Rasmussen was for many years responsible for checking out watch commanders in the Navy. He believes the frigate weapon stands out negatively. Photo: Malene Indrebø-Langlo / TV 2
An arm’s length away
At the Naval Academy, Rasmussen’s main responsibility was to check out navigators in the Navy. From watch commanders on minesweepers, corvettes, coast guard ships or on frigates.
He says that it was always a little more difficult with the frigates, and that the navigation center in the face of the frigate weapon could feel opposed in doing its job.
LAST SAIL: KNM “Helge Ingstad” on practice outside Trøndelag just over a week before she collided and sank. In front of her sail the Portuguese ship Corte-Real and the Danish ship Esbern Snare. Photo: Brian Kimball
– It was as if the frigate gun kept us at arm’s length, Rasmussen said in court.
– There were never any problems with the other squadrons. Why it is so with the frigates, I do not know.
Got shut up by the management
He says that he brought up the “problem” several times, most recently in the spring of 2018. Half a year before the accident.
– I was on board a frigate to look at a watch commander. When I reported that “this warden should not be warden», I was summoned to the carpet and received a reprimand from the Navy’s management, says Rasmussen.
According to Rasmussen, both Chief Marine, the squadron commander and the main shop stewards were present at the meeting.
– Throughout, there have been several discussions where we at the navigation center have been told not to interfere in the navigation details of the frigate weapon.
– We don’t joke
– In the Norwegian Navy we don’t yell at each other, and least of all if someone speaks about safety-critical matters.
That’s what Rune Andersen, chief of the Norwegian Navy, writes in an e-mail to TV 2.
BETTER NOW? Rune Andersen, head of the Norwegian Navy, says that in recent years there has been close and good cooperation between the frigate squadron and the Norwegian Navy’s navigation competence centre. Photo: Mathias Kleiveland / TV 2
He emphasizes that they work purposefully towards an open and robust safety culture, and that they can document the results of this.
– The allegation or the episode referred to is so far back in time that no one in the current leadership of the Norwegian Navy has first-hand knowledge of it, writes Andersen.
The cooperation between the frigate squadron and the Norwegian Navy’s navigation competence center has also strengthened after the accident, according to Chief Sjø.
– Totally average
Orlogkaptein Rasmussen is clear that clearing the defendant after eight calendar months was far too early.
– The defendant was a completely mediocre navigator during his training, says the naval captain.
– Sometimes it is justifiable to clear exceptionally good navigators faster than normal. Those who have sailed a lot before starting the Naval Academy, for example. This was not the case with the defendant.
GOOD ENOUGH: State prosecutors Benedikte Høgseth and Magne Kvamme Sylta in the Helge Ingstad trial. Photo: Frode Hoff / TV 2
Prosecutor Magne Kvamme Sylta reminds the court that the 33-year-old defendant has – through the negotiations – received very good advice from colleagues and bosses.
– During my 20 years, I have trained and seen an insane amount of people and the development they have had. But I’ve never seen a warden be trusted in eight months, says Rasmussen.
TWICE AS DIFFICULT? A classmate of the defendant’s 33-year-old had to have 16 months’ experience to become a warden on a mine sweeper. That is double what the head of duty at Helge Ingstad had before he was cleared. Photo: Marius Villanger / The Armed Forces
In comparison, Rasmussen says that a classmate of the defendant’s at the Naval Academy spent 16 months being approved as a watch commander on a minesweeper.
– I have asked the management of the Norwegian Navy if they therefore mean that it is twice as difficult to become a watch commander on such a vessel than on a frigate.
– I never got an answer to that.
