VESTBRIS

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Course/Position

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Vestbris had been in near collision with Sola TS before accident in Hjeltefjord

In the morning of Nov 8, the "Vestbris"on the way from Larvik to Florø loaded with wheat was sailing a parallel course with the tanker "Sola TS" when it suddenly turned to starboard and slowed speed. The 28 year old mate Oleg Kuryanov immediately reduced speed to avoid a collision. Then he suddenly saw the shadow of the frigate passing the tanker. The tanker had a lot of light, but I saw no light on the military vessel. The "Sola TS" changes course to starboard at 4 a.m. Three minutes later, the ship and frigate collided. The "Vestbris" was sailing with about ten knots just before the collision, but lowered the speed to about three knots to avoid a collision with the tanker. Then the "Vestbris" continued on its original course. Kuryanov heard that someone spoke on VHF before the collision, but everything was done in Norwegian and he did not understand what they said. He also received no message from the tanker. Not until 04.50 a.m. there was a "mayday" in English from the Fedje VTS.