Ship runs aground carrying Norwegian weapons for Poland
by AFP Staff Writers
Oslo (AFP) Dec 6, 2024

A cargo ship loaded with Norwegian weapons destined to protect a Polish logistics hub that distributes military aid to Ukraine has run aground off Norway's coast, authorities said Friday.

The civilian vessel Finlandia Seaways was transporting some of the weapons Oslo announced Monday to protect the hub when it ran aground off southwestern Norway on Thursday.

"The vessel hit a shoal and suffered damage to the rudder and propeller. It had to be tugged to a dock," a spokesman for the Sola rescue centre, Thomas Breivoll, told AFP.

"There was nothing dramatic about it," he added.

Norway's defence ministry is sending F-35 jet fighters, NASAMS surface-to-air missiles and around 100 soldiers to protect the Rzeszow hub in Poland as part of a NATO member state rotation.

A large part of Western military aid to Ukraine, which has been fending off Russia's invasion since 2022, transits through the logistical hub in southeastern Poland.

According to Hanne Olafsen, a spokeswoman for the Norwegian armed forces, the ship was transporting "elements of the anti-air materiel destined for Poland".

"This will undoubtedly lead to a slight delay" in the contingent's deployment, she told AFP.

The military equipment will be transferred from the Finlandia Seaways to another vessel, and the area around the ship has been secured.

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