A Norwegian man managed to sleep through an enormous container ship running aground on his front lawn.
Johan Helberg, a resident of Byneset near the Trondheim Fjord, was awoken on Thursday morning by his neighbor inquiring if he had seen a boat outside, as reported by TV2 Norway.
When he looked out his door, he saw a 135m-long container ship parked up in his front yard.
Bente Hetland, the managing director of the shipping company NCL, described it as a “serious incident” and expressed gratitude that no one was harmed during the grounding.
“At this moment, we are unsure of what led to the event and are awaiting the findings from the ongoing investigation by the authorities,” Hetland stated. “We are currently evaluating the damage to the vessel.”
A tugboat was initially sent to try to pull the vessel free, to no avail.
On Thursday evening, a salvage company tried to mount an attempt to refloat the ship at high tide, but it was later decided it was not possible, the Norwegian Coastal Administration said in a statement.
It said geotechnical investigations were now needed before another attempt could be made.
While there have been no signs of oil leaking from the vessel, the authority said it had an oil response vessel on standby to respond, if needed.
