'Bulky new neighbour': Norwegian man wakes to find cargo ship in his backyard
It is not yet known why the ship ended up in the backyard of Mr Helberg. ( Reuters: Jan Langhaug )
A man in Norway awoke to discover a huge container ship had run aground just metres from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion.
For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135-metre NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just metres from Johan Helberg's house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway.
Mr Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbour who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. The 135-metre unexpected visitor came close to striking Mr Helberg's home. ( AP: Jan Langhaug )
"The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don't like to open," Mr Helberg told a local television channel.
His neighbour, Jostein Jorgensen, said he was awoken at around 5am local time by the sound of a ship heading at full speed toward land and immediately ran to Mr Helberg's house. Mr Helberg said he got the fright of his life after he woke up. ( AFP: Jan Langhaug )
"I was sure that he was already outside, but no, there was no sign of life," Mr Jorgensen told TV2.
"I rang the doorbell many times and nothing… And it was only when I called him on the phone that I managed to contact him." Neighbours came to inspect the new 'bulky neighbour'.
Several hours later, the massive red and green container ship was still stuck near the wooden house, waiting to be refloated.
"It's a very bulky new neighbour but it will soon go away," an amused Mr Helberg said.
None of the 16 crew members were injured in the incident, the cause of which is being investigated by Norwegian police. The sound of a ship heading toward land at full speed woke up a neighbour. ( AP: Jan Langhaug )
AFP Posted 20m ago 20 minutes ago Fri 23 May 2025 at 11:41am
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