KNM Helge Ingstad” was at navigation training when the accident occurred outside Øygarden according to Norwegian national broadcaster NRK.

A US officer had a central role on the bridge ahead of the collision. The US officer was receiving training from his Norwegian colleagues when the frigate KMN Helge Ingstad collided in the early hours of November 8 with the fully loaded oil tanker Sola ST off Norway's west coast. The frigate was under NATO command at the time, returning to its home port in Bergen after participating in NATO's huge Trident Juncture exercise off Trondheim.

When the collision occurred shortly after 4 a.m., there were seven people on the bridge of the frigate, which is usually manned by only five people. The US officer was being trained to become a duty chief, which was confirmed by NATO to NRK. Based on its sources, NRK claimed that the US officer had a central function on the bridge ahead of the collision, but no formal responsibility.

Previously, doubts were upraised that the frigate had long been on a collision course with the tanker and ignored all warnings. Maritime audio logs revealed that the frigate received several proximity warnings from the tanker, whose crew urged the frigate to immediately turn or 'do something'.

Despite having a US intern of the bridge, all communication was in Norwegian.