lmost two months after the KNM "Helge Ingstad" collided with the oil tanker in Hjeltefjorden, there is still some distance left until the frigate can be raised.
The goal now is to carry out the raising in January. However, if the vessel can ever sail for its own machine again, it is highly uncertain.
- We have not concluded that. But the longer the frigate is under water, the greater the damage, says Rear Admiral Nils Andreas Stensønes, chief of the Navy.
He says that the most critical phase of saving the vessel will be after the frigate is raised from the seabed.
- When it is raised and air and oxygen are added, there is strong corrosion. We have made a plan to reduce the damage as much as possible. Anyway, we are talking about years before the vessel is in operation again, if it is at all possible to save it, he says.
Exposed raising
The Navy originally had a plan to raise the frigate earlier. Before Christmas, December 25 was mentioned as the first possible date.
But the weather conditions in Hjeltefjorden in December made the salvage work difficult.
The frigate had sunk deeper underwater, which meant that the divers were unable to get all the lifting chains under the hull. Thus, the raising plans were postponed .
The bad weather continued around the turn of the year. For several days, all the work around the frigate was stopped.
One of the fuse wires fumes , and the rock that the wires are attached to shows signs of cracking.
- Throughout the New Year's weekend, there has been a great storm.But the vessel has been relatively stable. It has moved 30 centimeters and lowered slightly. Now we hope the cancellation can begin in the middle of this month, says Stensønes.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR THE FREGATE: - We are talking about years before the vessel is in operation again, if it is at all possible to save it, says Nils Andreas Stensønes.
PHOTO: TIM KRISTIAN WASSMO / NRK
Dozens of millions
Saturday, the crane rider "Rambiz" will go out to the frigate to continue the work of attaching chains around the hull.
Stensønes says they do not yet know how much the rescue operation will cost. But there is no doubt that it will be expensive.
- I can confirm that there are tens of millions. The cranes and equipment we use are expensive. But there is no alternative. The vessel must be up, both to salvage values, but also to prevent pollution. Then there is some graded material on board, he says.
Vulnerable with a frigate in manco
The Rear Admiral says Norway is more vulnerable after losing one of the totally forward frigates.
Virtually always a frigate is in for maintenance work. Thus, there are only three frigates in turn at all times.
- If we come in an emergency situation where we had needed all four frigates, then we only have three. Now we are trying to shorten maintenance periods so that we have the four frigates available to a greater extent than we have had before, he says.