ABSTRACT
In late 2018, the Norwegian frigate KNM Helge Ingstad collided with an oil tanker sailing on an intersecting course. The accident occurred in an area where ship traffic was monitored by a shipping control centre. Afterwards, critical questions were raised on how such an accident could occur at all, including the publication of an audio log where one could hear the communication between the people involved. The Accident Investigation Board Norway pointed out that misunderstanding of the situation on the frigate was the root cause while at the same time pointing out criticisms at the shipping control centre as well as the tanker. This chapter explores the actions of the involved parties prior to the accident focusing on communicative and coordinative practices including the use of technology, as well as the configuring of events and participants’ expectations. The chapter explores how one can understand this type of accident going beyond traditional sensemaking by drawing on the idea of prospective sensemaking, i.e., sensemaking processes understood analytically as primarily forward oriented. The chapter demonstrates a way to operationalize prospective sensemaking on the grounds of the KNM Helge Ingstad accident and discusses what one can learn by an operationalization of prospective sensemaking within complex organizational domains.
