BERGEN (Aftenposten): For more than two months, the Hordaland District Court has been highlighting the trial of KNM Helge Ingstad. On Wednesday, the attorney general will present his criminal allegation.
On the night of November 8, 2018, what few thought possible happened. The frigate Helge Ingstad collided with the tanker Sola TS.
The public prosecutor only prosecuted one person after the incident. The 33-year-old escort captain who commanded the frigate.
This week the trial ends.
On Wednesday, prosecutors Magne Kvami Celta and Benedict Hogseth will present the proceedings in the case. This afternoon they applied to punish the accused.
Hogseth started going down the throats of the defenders. They cited system failure as an important cause of collision. And she questioned the fact that the Navy says the watch commander should not be penalized.
– Is it because it is under the protection of the navy and navy? Hogseth asked rhetorically that no lives were lost, only values worth billions of kroner.
She noted that their review would show that there was no basis for blaming the system for tonight’s failure.
– There is absolutely no basis for characteristics such as system failure or scapegoating.
Hogseth believed that the warden should accept being assessed as “everyone else” charged with negligence.
The defendant caused the collision. She said he must accept that he will be judged according to the same principles as others when assessing negligence and criminal liability.
compared to the Sleipner accident
Hogseth began his proceedings by referring to an old and well-known case: the Sleipner speedboat accident in 1999.
16 people lost their lives.
Also in this case, system failures and shortcomings in navigator training were shown.
The captain was sentenced in the Court of Appeal to six months in prison for negligence in navigating the ship.
It also referred to several other criminal cases against boat drivers. and drivers who cause accidents through negligence.
Offer a critique of the evidence
Prosecutor Hogseth strongly opposed the defenders’ use of expert witnesses.
– We could have brought a long line of witnesses, the list is long. But we haven’t, Hogseth said, because it’s the court that should make that independent assessment.
She added:
– We are in no way afraid of this kind of evidence. But the court must be aware of how it will be evaluated.
The accused follows the prosecution procedures by the Public Prosecution Authority. He wore a Navy uniform and occasionally took notes along the way.
In court, both the defendant and witnesses from the Norwegian Navy said the tanker Sola TS was mistakenly on its way out of Sture station. Hogseth rejected this:
The position of the Sola TS in the joint was normal.
She noted that this has been the practice since the station was established 30 years ago.
– The Navy’s unfamiliarity with the practice can hardly be described as anything other than bizarre.
Hogseth also rejected the defenders’ claims that the tanker went with the entire deck lit in line.
– Deck lighting was normal and legal, she said.
The commanders supported the commander of the watch
The accused received broad support from his fellow Marines throughout the trial.
– I am fully responsible for everything that happens on this boat. Whether the chef cut his finger or we crashed into a cistern. To be completely honest, I find it hard to accept that he’s sitting there, and I’m sitting here. The ship’s captain, Preben Ottesen, said in court on January 31 that it was entirely my responsibility.
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