STURE TERMINAL, Bergen, Norway (BulgarianMilitary.com) – The KNM Helge Instad frigate of Norway is in danger of sinking as reported by The Associated Press. While returning from one of NATO’s largest training events in recent years Trident Juncture 18 exercise (25 October – 7 November 2018), the frigate was hit by an oil tanker and images posted by The Associated Press show how the vessel is lying on its side in a small cove, learned BulgarianMilitary.com

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The Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate was rammed by the Maltese-flagged oil tanker Sola TS around 4 a.m. local time while docked in the Sture Oil and Gas Terminal at Stura in Øygarden municipality, which is located 50 km northwest of Bergen in Norway. During the accident 8 members of the crew were injured, and 2 of them were hospitalized nearby as announced by Rear. Adm. Nils Andreas Stensoenes, the head of the Royal Norwegian Navy, on Thursday, 8th Novemebr 2018, during a news conference.

According to the Norwegian news agency NTB, as a result of the collision there is a hole in the frigate’s side and more water than it can be pumped out is taking in now.

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Rear. Adm. Nils Andreas Stensoenes explained that for that reason the vessel is leaning to one side as of the moment and that it had been pushed by towboats into shallow water, where it cannot completely sink. He also shared that the cause of the accident was not clear yet. It will be further investigated by Norway’s Accident Investigation Board and Malta’s Marine Safety Investigation Unit.

The length of the KNM Helge Instad frigate is 442 feet (134.72 m). It was built nine years ago (in 2009) by the Spanish shipbuilder Navantia. There are four other ships of the same class in service in Norway and they are the largest naval ships of the Scandinavian nation.

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Source: Defense News, Wikipedia