OSLO, Norway (AP) โ Norwegian prosecutors have charged a cargo shipโs on-duty navigator after he allegedly fell asleep on duty and the vessel ran aground, narrowly missing crashing into a home.
The ship, the NCL Salten, ran aground shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday. No oil spills were reported, and none of the 16 people aboard was injured.
Johan Helberg told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that heโd slept through the whole thing and only woke up when a neighbor started ringing his doorbell. Images show the shipโs red and green bow just meters (yards) from Helbergโs house along the Trondheim Fjordโs coast.
The on-duty navigator was the shipโs second officer, prosecutor Kjetil Bruland Sรธrensen said in a statement. He was charged with negligent navigation; his name was not made public.
Crews on Monday continued to take containers off the ship so it could be more easily removed from the area.
NCL, the shipping company, said it was cooperating with investigators.
