Status of the investigation into the collision between the frigate KNM Helge Ingstad and the oil tanker Sola TS 27 February 2019
The investigation team follows the lifting of HNoMS Helge Ingstad and remain in close dialogue with the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) and the Royal Norwegian Navy to ensure that our interests are taken into consideration during the process. Accident investigators will begin to map the extent of the damage and the condition of the vessel as soon as it has been lifted and secured. The investigation team also has access to a digital model of the frigate’s hull, which will be used in the work to study the vessel's damage stability and survivability.
Several electronic storage media have been secured from HNoMS Helge Ingstad, and work to retrieve and analyse data from these is under way. Attempts will be made to secure more data sources during the process of lifting the vessel, but it is uncertain whether the information they contain can be recovered after such a long period of submersion.
The scope of the investigation will be limited to the time up until everyone had been evacuated from the frigate.
A preliminary report was published on 29 November 2018. The vessel's Spanish designer Navantia received a notification of a critical safety issue in relation to the frigate's watertight compartments. In connection with this, AIBN and DAIBN have entered into a dialogue with Navantia and the Spanish Standing Commission for Maritime Accident and Incident Investigations (CIAIM). Spain has been assigned status as a substantially interested state, and the CIAIM has been included as a participant in the investigation. Navantia has informed that the design concept that the notification concerned only applies to the Norwegian frigates.
The NDMA also received a notification about the same matter. The NDMA has informed that necessary steps have been taken to address the safety issues.