Tanker Sola and Norwegian navy frigate Helga Ingstad collide off Norway

Oh dear…

Hold my Akvavit. I’ve got this…

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The Mate on watch on Vestbris did everything right when the ship he was about to overtake suddenly turned into his path:


He had no idea that the frigate was coming against him and did not understand the conversations on VHF in the minutes before.
That shows the importance of using Maritime English in such communications at sea, not Norwegian or whichever is the local language. (Or American slang for that matter)

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No it shows that Norwegian authorities has handed out PEC’s like candy.

PEC = Pilot Exemption Certificate, which allows foreign vessels to go pilotless as long as the Masters and Officers have proven their knowledge of the coast and the rules that applies.

Since Norway doesn’t have Cabotage Law that prohibit foreign ship in the coastal trade and many of those ships are manned by foreigners, it is necessary to follow IMO rules of communication, just like in aviation, where even communication between the flight deck and the cabin crew is in English, even on domestic flight.

In this case it was lucky that the Mate on the Vestbris reacted correctly, otherwise he could have T-booned either the frigate or the tanker that suddenly was right in his path. If he had been aware of what had been said between the VTS and the two vessel involved, he could have taken evasive action much earlier.

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Here’s the AIS animation

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Looking at the structural distortion around it I’m going to guess that door sprung open when she took the hit. But it may have been employed as an egress too.

She is a fairly stable condition resting on three point and work is ongoing to secure her from sliding off the ledge. At the same time there are assessment of her condition in preparation for righting, re-floating or lifting, all of which require access to the un-flooded part of the vessel.
That door may have been opened for access once it was clear that she was not in an immediate danger of sliding, and also for a quick escape if she should.
During a salvage operation different rules apply to when a ship is active.

Whatever the reason for originally opening that door, it should be readily apparent from the photographs that the passageway behind it is no longer intact. Therefore, I can’t imagine it makes any difference whether the door is open or not when the shell behind it has been breached.

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Another vessel that was close by at time of collision was the MY Dr. No:


She was coming by the inside route from Fosnavaag and is now in Bergen.
NRK News interviewed the South African Master. I haven’t be able to find a separate video clip, but here is an article with abstract from the interview:
https://www.nrk.no/hordaland/-da-vi-mottok-mayday-signalet-snudde-vi-rundt-med-en-gang-1.14286568

My initial thought on the door was after the crew abandoned ship it may have been left open in error? When the crew is trying to save there own life they may not have been thinking to close the doors also. After she started to list to starboard and was being pushed to the shore/rocks by the tugs that could have caused/accelerated the sudden very heavy list with another large opening for water to ingress the hull/compartment. Likely will never know how many watertight doors may have been left open? The water line was almost up to the door in the photo.

In the below video (in the beginning) when she is being pushed the door appears to still be open, as soon as she really started going over the tugs backed off. There was also a lot of gushing/splashing of water. It really does not matter the damage on the hull and effected internals is severe.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46136564

This is just f**king disgraceful.

With supplies, equipment, and what ever-else falling out of the hole it’s a mess. At least the crew is still alive.

The salvage plan appears to be crystallising:


Uglen has a capacity of 800 m.t. and are not able to lift the wreck.

Not sure how their plan will work, but here is my idea;
Uglen should be able to turn her to even keel and ensure she doesn’t sink by maintaining buoyancy, while moving away from the shoreline.

The submergeable BOA barge will be positioned close by, and submerged to allow the wreck to be floated over deck.

Uglen move the wreck in position over deck and the barge is de-ballasted to take the weight, slowly to allow the wreck to drain. (Cutting holes as/if necessary)

Secured and towed to Haakonsvaern, where the hull can be made watertight enough to float her off the barge and tow her into their drydock there. (Or move the barge close to whichever yard is chosen to do the repairs, before float-off)

Piece of cake, at least compared to the Costa Concordia.

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On a positive note: At least the front gun turret faces out towards the sea and could be used to defend the homeland from an amphibious assault from the Ambassador To Norway Fraqrat.

This is hard to believe due to the fact that the Norwegians are the greatest sailors on the planet.

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You must have heard of Noggin the Nog!!
image

Yes. We have grown to expect this kind of thing from the US Navy, but not the Norwegians. We all know they are the best of the best mariners.

The only possible explaination is that this Norwegian Frigate was returning from a NATO exercise and had US Navy personnel on the bridge.

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A trend in modern ship construction of navy ships hulls has been the steady decrease in armor and high strength steel thus rendering the ships more susceptible to damage. Seen in historical perspective WWII ships were built to absorb a lot of damage. Those ships were built much tougher than today’s ships with both stronger and thicker steel used.

Highly maneuverable frigates, which are built for speed, are also often lightly built in order to reduce weight. Sometimes I have the impression that you can cut a hole in the hull plating of some navy ships with a can opener.

However, these days HY steels are available which were developed for the pressure hulls for the US nuclear submarines and which have been designed to possess a high yield strength, strength in resisting permanent plastic deformation. An example of damage reduction is shown below.

IMG_3411

HY-80 Strake Defines the Upper Bound of the Damage

The damage done to the USS Cole shows the stunning difference between HY-80 and High Strength Steel (HSS) which is slightly stonger than mild shipbuilding steel. Look at the horizontal weld line that runs the length of the hull about halfway between the rail and the water and practically draws the top of the hole.

For those who haven’t (like me), here is an explanation:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2028436519/tales-of-the-northlands-the-sagas-of-noggin-the-no