A Norwegian man awoke to find a grounded cargo ship had narrowly missed his home

Saturday, 24 May 2025 08:45

A Norwegian man managed to sleep through an enormous container ship running aground on his front lawn.

Johan Helberg, who lives in Byneset, on the Trondheim Fjord, was woken by his neighbour on Thursday morning asking if he had noticed a boat outside, TV2 Norway reported.

When he looked out his door, he saw a 135m-long container ship parked up in his front yard.

"If the ship had hit the rocky outcrop right next to it, it would have lifted up and hit the house hard. It only missed by a few metres," Helberg told TV2.

His neighbor, Jostein Jørgensen, who lives about 40m from the beach, told TV2 he was woken around 5 a.m. by the sound of a boat approaching.

"When I looked out the window, I saw a boat speeding toward the shore," he told the local TV network, adding that he ran outside and shouted to raise the alarm.

Jørgensen said the boat, the NCL Salten, got closer and closer until it ran aground about eight metres from the wall of his neighbour's house.

"He was lying asleep and surprised he had a visitor," Jørgensen told TV2.

The vessel was reportedly bound for Orkanger, at the southern end of the fjord, and had 16 people aboard when it ran aground.

This aerial view shows the 443-foot NCL Salten grounded in the Trondheim Fjord.

Bente Hetland, managing director of the shipping company NCL, called it a "serious incident" and said the company was "grateful that nobody was injured in the grounding."

"At present time, we do not know what caused the incident and are awaiting the conclusion of the ongoing investigation by the relevant authorities," Hetland said in a statement. "We are currently assessing the damage to the ship."

A tugboat was initially sent to try to pull the vessel free, to no avail.

On Thursday evening, a salvage company tried to mount an attempt to refloat the ship at high tide, but it was later decided it was not possible, the Norwegian Coastal Administration said in a statement.

It said geotechnical investigations were now needed before another attempt could be made.

While there have been no signs of oil leaking from the vessel, the authority said it had an oil response vessel on standby to respond, if needed.

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