Officers want some chiefs to resign
April 26, 2021
Norway’s defense establishment has suffered a string of accidents and embarrassment in recent years. Now a group of naval officers are calling for the resignations or firings of Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen and both former and current Royal Norwegian Navy commanders.
Frank Bakke-Jensen, a member of the Conservative Party from Northern Norway, has been Norway’s defense minister since October 2017. Now he’s having to defend himself and the defense establishment following a long string of accidents and embarrassments. PHOTO: newsinenglish.no/Nina Berglund
Newspaper
Aftenposten reported just before the weekend that the officers, who sounded alarms last year over a lack of staffing and training in the Navy, have lost confidence in naval leadership. Last week’s second report from the state accident investigation commission into the collision and sinking of the frigate
Crew could have saved their frigate
April 21, 2021
Norway’s accident investigations commission has determined that the crew of the doomed frigate
KNM Helge Ingstad failed to close doors and hatches when they abandoned ship after colliding with a tanker in November 2018. A full shutdown, claims the commission, could have kept the frigate from becoming a total loss if the crew had been better trained.
The once-proud frigate
Helge Ingstad suffered an embarrassing fate in the early morning hours of November 8, 2018. PHOTO: Forsvaret/Jakob Østheim
The Norwegian Navy was under harsh criticism once again on Wednesday, when the commission
(Havari-kommisjonen) delivered its second report on the collision. It has turned into a costly embarrassment that could have been avoided, according to the commission.