Last week's bizarre maritime mishap is headed for an unhappy ending. The Norwegian Navy warship that ran aground last week after a collision is almost completely underwater and may not see active duty ever again.

Last week, the guided-missile frigate Helge Ingstad somehow collided with a civilian oil tanker called Sola TS. The Norwegian frigate’s captain, realizing his dire situation, made the desperate decision to run the ship onto the rocky Norwegian coastline. Several crew members were injured, none seriously, though the stern of the ship was almost completely submerged.

The captain's quick thinking prevented the ship from sinking entirely, but it may have only delayed the inevitable. In the days since then, “unexpected events” saw her sink even further into the cold waters of the Norwegian Sea. Now, despite the best efforts of a salvage team, the ship is almost completely underwater, save for her SPY-1F radar mast. Pictures showed both radar panels just above the waterline.

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Norwegian Navy frigate Helge Ingstad is now almost entirely submerged. pic.twitter.com/US4wwgZgqC — Military Advisor (@miladvisor) November 13, 2018

According to Naval Today , the Norwegian Navy said it has welded seven fixing points to the ship’s hull, each of which was connected to a steel cable anchored to shore. Pictures show several tugboat-type ships standing by, plus an anchor-handling vessel investigating the sea bottom underneath the ship along with a Hugin 6000 autonomous unmannned undersea vehicle.



That was Monday. Early Tuesday, the Norwegian Navy announced that unexpected events had “complicated” the salvage operation. In other words, things have taken a turn for the worse. New photos show the starboard radar panel, which normally stands approximately forty feet above the surface, submerged. The port radar panel was barely above water. The tip of the ship’s bow is peeking just over the surface of the waves.

It’s now unclear what, if any, future the guided-missile frigate has. Helge Ingstad was manufactured by Spain’s Navantia shipyard from 24 modules, with 13 watertight compartments. The ship is designed to stay afloat and moving with two of the compartments flooded. There were reportedly dry compartments still on the ship when it was abandoned. Although warships are designed to be corrosion-resistant they are not designed to be submerged under salt water (ships other than submarines, anyway), particularly sensitive electronics.

Norway seems determined to salvage and repair the Ingstad, but realistically she may never sail again.

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