NEED TO KNOW
- A man in Norway has been left in shock after a container ship ran aground in his backyard
- Johan Helberg woke up to the sound of his neighbors alerting him that an NCL ship had crashed just a few meters from his home on Thursday, May 22
- “There’s a guy I know very well standing there, looking at me in amazement and saying, ‘Have you not seen the ship?’ ” Helberg said, per the BBC
A man in Norway has been left in shock after waking up to see a container ship in his backyard.
According to the BBC, Johan Helberg woke up to the sound of his worried neighbors, who witnessed the ship’s movements, alerting him to the scene on Thursday, May 22.
The outlet reported that Helberg’s home was just meters away from being hit by the 135m vessel at around 5:00 a.m. local time in Byneset, near Trondheim.
“The doorbell rang at a time when I don’t really like opening the door,” Helberg told Sky News. “I like to go back to sleep. But it was a very insistent ring, so I finally went to answer it.”
“And there’s a guy I know very well standing there, looking at me in amazement and saying, ‘Have you not seen the ship?’ ” Helberg continued.
“But I hadn’t. So I went to the window and saw this [the ship],” Helberg added.
JAN LANGHAUG/NTB/AFP via Getty
PEOPLE has contacted the Norwegian Cruise Line and the Norwegian Police for comment.
The astonished man told The Guardian that he had to “bend my neck” to see the top of the ship. “It was so unreal.”
“Five meters further south and it would have entered the bedroom,” he told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, per the BBC. “I didn’t hear anything.”
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Speaking about ringing Helberg’s doorbell, neighbor Jostein Jorgensen said he woke up when he heard the ship speeding towards the shore.
“I was sure that he was already outside, but no, there was no sign of life. I rang the doorbell many times and nothing,” he said, per BBC.
JAN LANGHAUG/NTB/AFP via Getty
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According to the outlet, he told local TV channel TV2, “And it was only when I called him on the phone that I managed to contact him.”
The BBC reported there were 16 people on the NCL Salten, which had been traveling through the Trondheim Fjord to Orkanger.
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There were reportedly no injuries and police are said to be investigating the cause of the incident.
“It’s a very bulky new neighbor but it will soon go away,” Helberg said, per the BBC.
“At present time, we do not know what caused the incident and are awaiting the conclusion of the ongoing investigation by the relevant authorities,” managing director Bente Hetland of NCL said in a statement, per the outlet.
Credit: dotdashmeredith.com
