A cargo ship incident in Norway has brought attention to maritime safety practices after the watch officer reportedly fell asleep, causing the vessel to crash into a residential garden.
Ship Captain Charged After Container Vessel Crashes into Norwegian Garden
Ship Captain Charged After Container Vessel Crashes into Norwegian Garden
A Ukrainian watch officer fell asleep on duty, leading to a vessel mishap in Byneset, Norway.
The watch officer of a sizable container ship, which ran aground in a Norwegian resident's front garden, has confessed to authorities that he was asleep during the incident. The Ukrainian national in his thirties has been charged with negligent navigation as investigators look into whether he complied with established working and rest regulations aboard the ship.
The NCL Salten, a 135-meter-long Cypriot-flagged cargo vessel, narrowly missed a house, lodge in a garden instead, on Thursday morning in Byneset, close to Trondheim in central Norway. Attempts to refloat the ship have, thus far, yielded no success.
According to Trondelag Police District's prosecutor, the officer was solely responsible during the time of the grounding. "He admitted to falling asleep while on watch alone, which resulted in the vessel running aground," the prosecutor explained. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported.
Johan Helberg, the property owner, shared his shock upon discovering the vessel in his garden. "I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal," he recounted in a statement to the Guardian. He was alerted to the incident by a neighbor who heard the ship's noise and witnessed it veering towards shore. "Five meters further south and it would have entered the bedroom," he told Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.
This is not the first time the ship has faced difficulties; it reportedly ran aground earlier in 2023 but was later freed by its own power.
The NCL Salten, a 135-meter-long Cypriot-flagged cargo vessel, narrowly missed a house, lodge in a garden instead, on Thursday morning in Byneset, close to Trondheim in central Norway. Attempts to refloat the ship have, thus far, yielded no success.
According to Trondelag Police District's prosecutor, the officer was solely responsible during the time of the grounding. "He admitted to falling asleep while on watch alone, which resulted in the vessel running aground," the prosecutor explained. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported.
Johan Helberg, the property owner, shared his shock upon discovering the vessel in his garden. "I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal," he recounted in a statement to the Guardian. He was alerted to the incident by a neighbor who heard the ship's noise and witnessed it veering towards shore. "Five meters further south and it would have entered the bedroom," he told Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.
This is not the first time the ship has faced difficulties; it reportedly ran aground earlier in 2023 but was later freed by its own power.
