Cargo Ship Hits Garden in Norway After Watch Officer Falls Asleep

OSLO, Norway — A large cargo ship ran aground in Byneset, near Trondheim, Thursday morning, narrowly missing a house after the watch officer admitted he was asleep at the helm. The Ukrainian officer, in his thirties, faces charges of negligent navigation following the incident.

The vessel, known as the NCL Salten, is a 135-meter (443-foot) Cypriot-flagged cargo ship that was traveling through Trondheim Fjord towards Orkanger when it veered off course. No injuries were reported, and there was no oil spill.

Prosecutor Kjetil Bruland Sørensen explained that the officer on watch failed to change course, leading to the ship running aground shortly before 6 a.m. “During questioning, he stated that he fell asleep while on duty alone,” Sørensen said.

Local resident Johan Helberg, who owns the property where the ship came to a halt, described the surreal sight as he awoke to find the massive vessel just five meters from his bedroom. “I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal,” he told NRK. A neighbor alerted him to the commotion, ringing the doorbell repeatedly.

Helberg was unharmed and noted that the only damage was to a heating pump’s wire. “That’s luck, or bad luck, you could say,” remarked neighbor Jostein Jørgensen, who also witnessed the incident. Jørgensen described rushing over to ensure Helberg was safe.

Efforts to refloat the NCL Salten have not been successful so far. The logistics company NCL, which charters the ship, called it a “serious incident” and expressed gratitude that no one was harmed, emphasizing ongoing cooperation with police in their investigation. Authorities are looking into whether rest and work hour regulations were followed on board the vessel.

The NCL Salten had previously run aground in 2023 but was freed without incident at that time. Authorities continue to investigate this latest grounding.