The crew of the sunken warship KNM Helge Ingstad didn't realise they were headed toward a moving tanker until it was too late, a preliminary investigation of the collision released Thursday found.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway said the crew of the state-of-the-art naval ship, having just completed a watch change while returning from Nato exercises in the early morning hours 8 November, thought Tsakos Energy Navigation's 113,00-dwt Sola TS (built 2013) was stationary until the two ships were within 400 metres of each other.
The frigate's crew then attempted an avoidance manoeuvre, but it was too late.
"The AIBN's preliminary assessment is that the accident was not caused by any single act or event, but can be explained by a series of interacting complex factors and circumstances," the report read. "The investigation team is seeking to identify and understand these factors."
The board said the aframax Sola TS had just left the Sture terminal, while the crew of the 134-metre Helge Ingstad (built 2017) completed a watch change.
The pilot of the Sola TS recognised that it would hit the Helge Ingstad and attempted to get in contact with the ship to request it change course. Once in contact — the Helge Ingstad, still under the impression the Sola TS was stationary — said they could not.
The Helge Ingstad did eventually change course, but the two ships collided anyway.
The naval ship, thought to be one of the most advanced in the Norwegian fleet, would lose rudder control and propulsion and run aground a few minutes later. Five days later, the ship would sink.
No one was injured in the crash. The loss is speculated to run to around $500m.
The board said it is still investigating several factors related to the crash, as well as what happened after the collision.
