Just two weeks after the accident, the entire crew of the frigate Helge Ingstad was back at sea again.
It was also the commander of the watch, who is charged with negligently causing damage at sea and breaching the military penal code.
The 33-year-old still works in the Norwegian Navy, on a frigate.
The navy emphasizes that they have full confidence in the former watch commander, who now has another important role on board Norway’s most advanced warship.
– We take care of our people, says Chief of the Norwegian Navy, Rune Andersen.
IN THE COURT: Rune Andersen, commander of the Norwegian Navy, will himself testify in the trial against the 33-year-old watch commander. Photo: Penelope Alida Larsen / TV2
– The warden at Helge Ingstad has been in a very difficult situation. But he is a capable officer – whom we will take care of before, during and after the trial.
– Heavy for him
Although the public prosecutor concluded that everyone who was on the bridge when Ingstad collided acted negligently, only the 33-year-old has been charged.
Both the traffic center at Fedje and “Sola TS” were under investigation, but the attorney general chose to drop the cases against these parties.
For its part, the Norwegian Defense Force has acknowledged guilt by accepting a corporate fine of ten million kroner.
Last week, the 33-year-old’s defender, Christian Lundin, told TV 2 that his client thinks it is unreasonable that he sits alone on the dock. He feels he must bear the blame for the collision alone.
– What do you think about the fact that only one person is charged?
– It is obviously difficult for him, but we are keen to take good care of our colleague. And then we have great confidence in the judiciary, and expect a thorough trial that will reach the right result, Andersen says.
Long witness list
The rear admiral is one of many in the Norwegian Navy who will testify in the Bergen district court in the coming weeks.
The witness list includes personnel from the traffic center at Fedje, the pilot and captain of the tanker “Sola TS”, several members of the frigate’s crew and others from the Norwegian Armed Forces.
Public prosecutor Benedikte Høgseth tells TV 2 that it is a massive case, where they need the two months set up to go through every second of the accident.
PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE: State prosecutors Benedikte Høgseth and Magne Kvamme Sylta will lead the case for the prosecution. Photo: Elias Engevik / TV 2
– It is a complicated case with a lot of information. The length of the main hearing must probably be seen in the light of the fact that the defendant has not been found guilty. Then we have to shed light on the matter in its full breadth, she says.
Damaged reputation
The Ingstad accident was not only a significant loss for Norway’s defense capability.
See the Ingstad documentary on TV 2 Play here.
– It is one of the most serious accidents we have had in peacetime. The Ingstad accident has been written into the Navy’s otherwise proud history with a sharp and unpleasant pen, says Andersen.
Video: See the collision and animation from the Accident Investigation Board.
That no lives were lost that night was just luck.
– It was very close. We also lost large material assets, but the accident was also a loss for the Navy’s reputation, which we must work to restore, says Andersen.
Want to explain
Defense attorney Lundin says his client is excited ahead of the trial.
– He experiences the case as an extremely heavy burden, and is terrified. At the same time, he looks forward to giving his view on the matter and explaining what he experienced.
ASSISTANCE: Lawyer Christian Lundin defends the 33-year-old together with his colleague Tom Sørum. Photo: Pål Martin Rossing / TV 2
The fact that it has taken a full four years from the time the accident occurred until the case comes before the court has increased the burden on the former warden and his family.
In concrete terms, the 33-year-old believes that the case should have ended with the Ministry of Defense’s corporate punishment.
– Scapegoat
That he now sits alone on the dock while the investigated actors in the traffic center at Fedje and the tanker “Sola TS” went free, he believes, is completely unreasonable.
– He reacts to the fact that he alone has been singled out as a scapegoat in this case. This is because he believes that here there is an entire system that failed, and the Accident Investigation Board has established that, says Lundin.
TV 2 has submitted the accusations against Fedje VTS to the Norwegian Coastal Administration. They write in an e-mail that they do not wish to comment on the matter.
BETTER ARMED: Although the Navy is one frigate smaller after the accident, the commander believes that the Navy has emerged stronger from the accident. Here, Andersen visits KNM “Fridtjof Nansen” on practice outside Harstad just before Christmas. Photo: Sorosh Sadat / TV 2
State prosecutor Benedikte Høgseth says that even though the 33-year-old is the only defendant in this case, it is not the case that he alone bears all the blame.
– No, that’s not quite right. The defense has also been subject to corporate sanctions, and it is no secret that the other actors mentioned have also been under investigation.
– When the Attorney General has now assessed that there are only grounds for indicting the 33-year-old and dropping the other cases, then we have to deal with that, she says.
AFTER PLAY: The frigate Helge Ingstad on the shore at Stureterminalen, 21 February 2019. Photo: Robert Reinlund / TV 2
Big changes
When Helge Ingstad collided with the tanker “Sola TS”, Andersen himself was on board the frigate KNM “Otto Sverdrup” as force commander.
– This is an accident that has affected us very strongly emotionally, but when the crisis was a fact, it was about channeling the energy towards what we could do something about, he says.
– The most important thing was to look after the personnel who were involved, but in the time since, the number one priority was security work, he says.
Andersen believes the Norwegian Navy has emerged stronger from the accident.
– The work has resulted in many small and large changes in the way we conduct training, changes in procedures and clearance of personnel to key positions.
