Salvagers on Tuesday pulled a massive cargo ship, which made world headlines for running aground just meters away from a house in Norway, back into the water, the head of the company managing the operation said.
A Ukrainian sailor in his 30s was on watch at the time and said he had fallen asleep, according to Norwegian police, who have charged him with “negligent navigation.”
The 443-foot NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just a stone’s throw from a wooden house around dawn on Thursday.
“It’s good to have said hello, but now it’s time to say goodbye” the occupant of the house, Johan Helberg, told broadcaster NRK on Tuesday.
The container ship NCL Salten (C) is pictured after it has been pulled from the ground and is back at sea, on May 27, 2025 near Trondheim, Norway. The 135-meter-long ship ran aground in the Trondheimsfjord outside Byneset on May 22, 2025, almost hitting a house. / Credit: JAN LANGHAUG/NTB/AFP via Getty Images
The containers on the ship, except for those removed to lighten the bow, are still on board and will be unloaded this evening, Ole T. Bjornevik, the managing director of BOA Offshore told AFP, adding that the operation only lasted 30 minutes and an inspection is underway.
“This went better than expected,” he told NRK. “This went beyond all expectations.”
The Ukrainian seaman has said none of the cargo ship’s collision alarms had worked, prosecutor Kjetil Bruland Sorensen told news agency NTB.
The investigation will also look into whether the rules on working hours and rest periods were adhered to on the ship, according to police.
People stand near a container ship, which almost hit a house, in Trondheim, Norway, May 22, 2025. / Credit: NTB/Jan Langhaug/via Reuters
Helberg also slept through the incident and only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor rang his doorbell and called him on the phone.
“The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television channel TV2.
The ship reportedly caused damage to a heating pipe in Helberg’s cabin, TV2 reported, but the homeowner said he considered himself lucky.
“If the ship had hit the rocky cliff right next to it, it would have lifted up and hit the house hard,” he told TV2. “It wasn’t many meters off.”
None of the 16 crew members were injured.
Bente Hetland, the CEO of the shipping company that owns NCL Salten, told TV2 that the same ship ran aground twice before — once in 2023 in Hadsel and again in 2024 in Ålesund.
Johan Helberg poses next to his house and a 443-foot-long container ship by the shore in the Trondheimsfjord outside Byneset by Trondheim, Norway, on May 22, 2025, after the ship ran aground, almost hitting his house. / Credit: Jan Langhaug/NTB/AFP via Getty Images
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