Watch Officer of Grounded Cargo Ship Fell Asleep During Duty

A Ukrainian officer faces charges for negligent navigation after admitting to falling asleep on duty, causing a cargo ship to crash into a residential garden in Byneset, Norway. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

The watch officer of a large container ship that ran aground and collided with a garden in Norway has admitted to police that he fell asleep during his duty. The incident, involving the NCL Salten, occurred on Thursday morning in Byneset, located near Trondheim. The Ukrainian man, in his thirties, is under investigation for negligent navigation and whether proper working and rest hour regulations were followed on board.

The 135-meter (443-foot) cargo ship narrowly avoided crashing into a nearby house, missing it by mere meters before it became stuck. Efforts to refloat the vessel have proven unsuccessful thus far. "The individual charged was the officer on watch at the time of the incident," stated a prosecutor from the Trondelag Police District in a press briefing. "He admitted to falling asleep while on duty alone, which resulted in the vessel running aground." Fortunately, no injuries resulted from the ordeal.

The Cypriot-flagged NCL Salten had 16 crew members on board and was headed south-west through the Trondheim Fjord towards Orkanger when it strayed off its intended path. Local resident Johan Helberg described the surreal experience of waking up to find the ship in his front garden. "I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal," Helberg recounted in an interview. His neighbor alerted him to the scene, hearing the commotion as the ship approached the shore. "Five meters further south and it would have entered the bedroom," he added.

Notably, reports indicate that the NCL Salten had previously run aground in 2023 but was freed by its own power at that time.