Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad is understood to be listing heavily after collision with a tanker.

Local media are reporting that the vessel was deliberately run aground at port in Norway in order to prevent sinking.

The 127 crew has been evacuated, 8 members of the crew are understood to have suffered injuries.

Eirik Walle, of Norway’s rescue centre, told Norwegian news agency NTB that the collision caused an opening in the frigate’s hull and “it is taking in more water than they can pump out. There is no control over the leak and the stern is heavily in the sea.”

Johan Marius Ly of the Norwegian Coast Guard said the 134-meter (442-foot) -long frigate was listing, adding “we have been told that there is a leak from the frigate. It should be a helicopter fuel, but the extent of leakage is unknown.”

The class are the main surface combatants of the Royal Norwegian Navy. The ships are named after famous Norwegian explorers, with the lead ship of the class bearing the name of Fridtjof Nansen.

Five ships were ordered from Spanish shipbuilder Bazan at a cost of $2.54 billion.