The owner of the tanker that collided with the Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad in 2018, agreed to pay around $27 million as compensation to the Norwegian government for the loss of the warship.
The Helge Ingstad had collided with the tanker Sola TS off the Sture oil terminal in Norway’s Hjeltefjord on November 8, 2018.
Efforts were made to keep the ship afloat, but they were unsuccessful, and it gradually sank on a rocky, sloping seabed near the terminal.
As a result of the collision, seven crewmembers were injured, but all were evacuated safely and there were no fatalities.
In late February 2019, after lengthy delays due to weather, Helge Ingstad was raised and transported to a pier in Hanøytangen for evaluation.
Facing a repair bill of $1.4 billion, the Royal Norwegian Navy declared the ship a total loss.
A preliminary report from Norway’s Accident Investigation Board found that a significant share of the fault belongs to the watchstanders of Ingstad’s bridge team, who believed that the oncoming tanker was a fixed object up until the final moments before the collision.
The settlement agreement with Twitt Navigation covers a small fraction of the $490 million value of the frigate and the $80 million that Norway spent on salvage expenses.
