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A man in Norway must have gotten the ‘freight’ of his life when he woke up to find a huge container ship had run aground and crashed into his front garden.
According to Johan Helberg, his neighbours saw the approaching ship and ran to warn him, but he ignored it, saying, “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open.”
Eventually, he went to his window and saw the 135-metre ship parked metres away from his house.
Neighbour Jostein Jorgensen said he was woken by the sound of the ship as it headed at full speed towards land, and 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,” said Jorgensen. “And it was only when I called him on the phone that I managed to contact him.”
“I went to the window and was quite astonished to see a big ship,” Helberg told the Guardian. “I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal.”
The cargo ship, the NCL Salten, had 16 people on board and was travelling south-west through the Trondheim Fjord to Orkanger when it went off course. It’s not known what caused the crash, and Norwegian police are said to be investigating.
“Normally, ships turn left or right into the fjord. But this went straight ahead,” says Helberg, who has lived in the house for 25 years. “It was very close to the house. It’s a very bulky new neighbour, but it will soon go away.”
According to reports, the ship had previously run aground in 2023 but got free under its own power.
Police have interviewed the crew and are working on several theories, including technical failure and human error.
The shipping company, North Sea Container Line (NCL), said the shipmate had been named a suspect but that it was a routine police procedure. NCL’s chief executive, Bente Hetland, said there was “no reason to believe this was intentional”.
“Incidents like this should not happen, and we have started an investigation into the causes. Today, we are relieved that there were no injuries, and our main focus is on the people near the ship and our crew,” she added.
