A 139-meter container ship ran aground early Thursday morning on the shore of a fjord near Trondheim, almost hitting a wooden house while its owner was sleeping. According to Norwegian police, the ship's helmsman was probably also asleep at the time of the incident, CBS News reported.
The NCL Salten ran aground just a few meters from Johan Helberg's home in the Binesset area, without causing serious damage. His neighbor, Jostein Jorgensen, was woken up around 5 a.m. in the morning by the noise of the approaching ship and tried to wake Helberg, who only found out about what had happened after a phone call.
"It's a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon disappear," Helberg told local TV2, noting that the situation could have been much worse. The ship damaged a heating pipe at his house, but no other material damage was reported., but no other material damage was reported.
None of the 16-member crew were injured. Police have launched an investigation, with suspicions that the only person on the bridge at the time of the incident - the helmsman - fell asleep and did not change course when entering the Trondheim Fjord.
"We have received information that he was asleep", police officer Kjetil Bruland Sørensen confirmed to the NTB agency.
The ship's owner, NCL, said it was cooperating with authorities and conducting an internal investigation. CEO Bente Hetland confirmed to TV2 that NCL Salten had already had two previous incidents - in 2023 in Hadsel and in 2024 in Ålesund.
Attempts to get the ship off the shore have so far been unsuccessful, with the huge red-and-green vessel still dominating the landscape, ominously close to Helberg's home.