Norwegian man doesn't wake up: Yet a ship has run aground in his garden

Last Thursday, 21 May, a Norwegian man was the “privileged” witness to an utterly crazy scene: a 135-metre container ship ploughed through the waves and ran aground in his garden. 

A noisy incident that still wasn’t enough to wake Johan Helberg. The cargo ship, which came to a halt just a few metres from his house in Byneset, near Trondheim, did spark concern from a neighbour, who didn’t hesitate to interrupt his sleep. 

This week, on Tuesday, the owner of the company responsible for moving the ship, Ole T. Bjørnevik, told AFP that the container ship had indeed been refloated. The operation was swift, taking only about thirty minutes. 

He was asleep

The Ukrainian seaman indicted for “negligence in navigation” by the Norwegian police explained that he had fallen asleep, claiming that none of the ship’s bridge protection alarms had gone off. 

According to the local authorities, the investigation will need to determine whether the rules regarding work and rest hours were respected, according to media outlet 20 Minutes. 

(MH with Raphaël Liset – Source: 20 Minutes – Illustration: ©Unsplash)