Finlandia Seaways ran aground in the Karmsundet Strait outside Haugesund on Thursday evening. The ship was en route to Poland with air defense to protect the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport, which is located near the border with Ukraine.
Norway is sending the NASAMS air defense system and F-35 fighter jets to secure the airport, in addition to a hundred soldiers.
It was announced earlier this week . Now the delivery of equipment is being delayed.
The military is on site at the quay at Karmøy to protect the equipment.
– The Armed Forces have established a temporary military restriction area in collaboration with property owners and the police, to protect military equipment, says Hanne Olafsen, spokesperson for the Armed Forces Operational Headquarters (FOH), to the Armed Forces Forum.
Looking for alternatives
Forces from the Home Guard are in charge of the guard, according to Olafsen. According to NRK, the ship had a crew of 23 people. No one was reportedly injured in the accident.
– We are happy that the ship is safe in port, says Olafsen.
She has no details about when the equipment will be in place in Poland, but says that the Armed Forces are now looking at alternative means of transportation.
– There will be delays in connection with the reloading of equipment to a new means of transport. It does not affect the mission, she says.
– Dramatic
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Rescue manager on duty at the Main Rescue Center Thomas Breivoll tells the Norwegian Armed Forces Forum that the ship hit a shallow area and sustained damage to the rudder and propeller.
– Fortunately, the ship was quickly anchored. But the message was initially quite dramatic due to the size of the ship, the distance to land in the narrow strait and the weather conditions, Breivoll tells the Norwegian Armed Forces Forum.
He says that large resources were sent to the scene.
– There was a lot of wind in a narrow strait, and when such a large boat gets into trouble, you have a fairly short window of time. Large resources were sent to the scene and the tugboats reached there and held it still until the wind calmed down. It was then towed to the dock, says Breivoll.
Alcohol test
According to Erik Engløkk, police attorney in the South-West Police District, there is no suspicion that anything criminal has occurred.
– The police have opened a so-called investigation case after the grounding, and will conduct certain investigations to determine whether anything criminal may have occurred. As of now, there is no concrete suspicion of that, he tells the Armed Forces Forum.
– The captain and pilot will be questioned first. An investigation will also be conducted into what happened and the reason why the ship ran aground.
– The captain and pilot were tested for alcohol, so there is no suspicion of alcohol in the case. It also does not indicate pollution from the ship, so in that sense it has been less dramatic than it could have been, says Engløkk.
Finlandia Seaways is owned by the Danish shipping company DFDS, and is chartered by the Norwegian Armed Forces to transport material to Poland.
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In April 2018, a fire broke out in the engine room of the Finlandia Seaways after an engine failure . One of the ship’s engineers suffered serious lung injuries, according to a report from British authorities. The incident occurred about two miles off the coast of England.
source: forsvaretsforum.no/innenriks-nasams-sjo/skip-med-norske-nasams-grunnstotte-pa-vei-til-polen
