A retiree living on the shore of a Norwegian fjord was startled awake on Thursday morning when his neighbour knocked urgently on his door, urging him to look outside, according to The New York Times.
Johan Helberg, a retired museum director, had no idea that his peaceful backyard view of the Trondheimsfjord was about to be dramatically altered. When he glanced out his window, he was greeted by the enormous side of a cargo ship—an unexpected and surreal sight.
At around 5 a.m. Thursday, the 440-foot-long cargo vessel NCL Salten ran aground just a few yards from Helberg’s home in Byneset, a quiet district on the outskirts of Trondheim, Norway. The ship had narrowly missed crashing into the house, with its bow just five or six yards from his bedroom.
Helberg, who had slept soundly through the incident, was initially confused by the sound of his doorbell ringing at 5:45 a.m. "I wondered who in the world would ring the doorbell so early," he said in an interview later that day. "I looked outside and my neighbor said, ‘Haven’t you seen the ship?’"
Had the ship’s course been slightly different, Helberg believes it could have continued at speed, colliding with his home. “It’s completely surreal,” he added. "I’ve seen and been through worse."
While Helberg remained calm, his neighbour, who witnessed the ship running aground, was left “in shock all day,” according to Helberg. Many locals shared similar feelings of disbelief after seeing photos and videos of the giant vessel wedged onto the shore.
“Big ships pass by now and then,” Helberg explained, “but they usually stay far out in the deeper waters of the fjord. We don’t usually see one this close, right outside our living room window.
This is especially strange.”
Norwegian coastal authorities confirmed on Thursday that there were no injuries and no oil spill from the incident. The NCL Salten was en route to Orkanger when it ran aground, though the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Police spokesperson Martin Hammervik Aarhoug reassured the public, saying, "As long as the vessel remains stationary, there is no danger of further incidents."
However, shortly after the grounding, a landslide, about 100 meters wide, occurred in the area, likely triggered by the vibrations from the ship’s impact. Authorities have cordoned off the landslide area to prevent any accidents.
Although the crew’s whereabouts were initially unclear, Helberg reported that there were 16 men onboard, including a Norwegian captain and a crew made up of Russians and Ukrainians. He and his partner had attempted to contact the crew by shouting from their yard to check if anyone was injured, but the crew did not acknowledge the crash in their communication.
"This is a serious incident, and we are grateful that nobody was injured in the grounding," said Bente Hetland, CEO of NCL, the company that charters the vessel. "We do not yet know what caused the incident, and we are awaiting the conclusion of the ongoing investigation."
Hetland added that NCL and the ship's owner, Baltnautic, were working with authorities to assess the damage and attempting to safely refloat the vessel. However, despite efforts by NCL and a salvage company to use a tugboat to pull the ship free during high tide on Thursday evening, the vessel remained stuck.
Helberg, with his unique perspective on the situation, speculated that the ship may have misjudged the narrow bend at the entrance to the fjord. “I’ve seen a few ships pass by that seemed to go too far before realising something was wrong,” he said.
By Thursday evening, the NCL Salten was still grounded, and Helberg found himself answering calls from friends, family, and even international news outlets. On social media, friends and relatives expressed relief that he was unharmed and joked about his unexpected visitor. One friend commented, "Nothing beats the view from Byneset on a beautiful spring morning, does it?"
Helberg took it in stride, noting, “People often say this is the best view of the Trondheimsfjord. We’re right at the tip of the peninsula, so we get a view in every direction."
