A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion.
For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway.
Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television channel TV2.
His neighbor, Jostein Jorgensen, said he was roused at about 5am by the sound of a ship heading at full speed toward land and immediately ran to Helberg’s house.
“I was sure that he was already outside, but no, there was no sign of life. I rang the doorbell many times and nothing ... and it was only when I called him on the phone that I managed to contact him,” Jorgensen told TV2.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Several hours later, the massive red and green container ship was still stuck near the wooden house, waiting to be refloated.
When Helberg awoke, he looked out of his window to see the ship’s bow.
“I went to the window and was quite astonished to see a big ship,” he said. “I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal.”
Photo: AP
“Normally ships turn left or right into the fjord, but this went straight ahead,” said Helberg, who has lived in the house for 25 years. “It was very close to the house.”
“It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,” an amused Helberg said.
There were 16 crew members, among them Norwegians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians and Russians, on board the Cyprus-registered ship. There were no reports of injuries or oil spills. Police are investigating the incident and have identified one suspect on board the boat.
Police have interviewed the crew and are working on several theories, including technical failure and human error.
Additional reporting by The Guardian
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