Crew member charged after massive container ship ploughed into Norwegian man’s front garden

The ship, the NCL Salten, ran aground shortly before 6am on Thursday

The container ship NCL Salten is seen next to Johan Helberg's house, after the 135-meter-long ship ran aground almost hitting it, in the Trondheimsfjord outside Byneset, in Trondheim, Norway, Thursday May 22, 2025. (Jan Langhaug/NTB Scanpix via AP) (NTB)

Norwegian prosecutors have charged a cargo ship's second officer with negligent navigation after he allegedly fell asleep on duty and the vessel ran aground, narrowly missing crashing into a home.

The ship, the NCL Salten, ran aground shortly before 6am on Thursday. No oil spills were reported, and none of the 16 people aboard was injured.

Johan Helberg told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he’d slept through the whole thing and only woke up when a neighbor started ringing his doorbell.

Images show the ship’s red and green bow just meters (yards) from Helberg’s house along the Trondheim Fjord’s coast.

“I didn’t hear anything. I was sleeping seven metres from the bow,” he told Norwegian media NRK.

“It was lucky that it went ashore there. Five metres further south, and it would have entered the bedroom. And that wouldn’t have been particularly pleasant.”

Johan Helberg stands next to his house, with the container ship NCL Salten in the background, after the 135-meter-long ship ran aground in the Trondheimsfjord, outside Byneset, in Trondheim, Norway, Thursday May 22, 2025. (Jan Langhaug/NTB Scanpix via AP) (Jan Langhaug / NTB)

Mr Helberg’s neighbour Jostein Jorgensen said he woke up to the sound of a ship on the fjord.

“I looked out the window and saw a boat heading straight for shore,” he told NRK. “I went out and cawed and shouted and whistled without anything happening.”

Mr Jorgensen said he then rushed over to Mr Helberg’s house to try to wake him up.

“We woke up to the neighbour loudly ringing the doorbell. ‘Haven't you seen the ship?’” Mr Helberg said.

The second officer, whose name was not made public, was the navigator on duty at the time of the grounding, prosecutor Kjetil Bruland Sørensen said in a statement.

The cargo ship had 16 people on board when it ran aground, NRK reports, and no injuries were reported.

Crews on Monday continued to take containers off the ship so it could be more easily removed from the area.

NCL, the shipping company, said it was cooperating with investigators.