In a remarkable incident in Byneset, Norway, a man named Johan Helberg slept through an enormous container ship running aground on his front lawn. At 135 meters (443 feet) long, the NCL Salten is a technically advanced ship packed with awesome amenities. At the time of the grounding, it was carrying 16 crew members. The rare occurrence stunned local residents, city officials and environmental advocates as it unfolded in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Johan Helberg lives on the shores of the Trondheim Fjord—where the NCL Salten met her sad end. Local resident Jostein Jørgensen, whose home is located some 40 meters (131 ft) inland from the beach. Just before 5 a.m., the sound of the huge approaching vessel roused him from sleep. Jørgensen described the moment, stating, “When I looked out the window, I saw a boat speeding toward the shore.” He pointed out that the ship “just barely missed by a few meters” from doing much more damage.
Helberg was fast asleep when Jørgensen knocked on his door to let him know what was going on. When Helberg initially woke up, he looked out the window. To his surprise, he found a huge 443-foot container ship run aground immediately in front of his residence.
The NCL Salten was just getting past Hitra, heading towards Orkanger, at the southern end of the fjord. Then all at once, it seemed, it was holed below the waterline. The management director of the shipping company NCL, Bente Hetland, called it a “serious” incident. She said she was thankful that there were no reported injuries due to the grounding.
“We are grateful that nobody was injured in the grounding.” – Bente Hetland
After the grounding, salvage operations began Thursday night to try to refloat the vessel at high tide. The Norwegian Coastal Administration for its part concluded that such efforts would not be practicable at the time. This meant that, in reality, they needed to look at alternative approaches.
Hetland further commented on the situation, stating, “At present time, we do not know what caused the incident and are awaiting the conclusion of the ongoing investigation by the relevant authorities.”
Authorities are still investigating for the cause of this rare marine phenomenon. After all, if all goes according to plan, then Helberg and Jørgensen will have an amazing story to tell, of having seen a newly built mega container ship run aground—literally—on their doorstep.
