A container ship that made global headlines after grounding in a Norwegian man’s front garden has been refloated.
The 862-teu NCL Salten (built 2002) got stuck in a fjord near Trondheim last Thursday, ending up metres from Johan Helberg’s front door.
The feeder vessel was towed off the shoreline on Tuesday and has now arrived at the harbour in Orkanger, according to AIS data.
Operator North Sea Container Line (NCL) confirmed the refloating.
Safety4Sea said the Norwegian Maritime Authority inspected the ship when it was pulled free.
This showed hull damage rendering it unseaworthy.
The Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System was switched off both before and during the grounding, an inspector found.
Norwegian broadcaster NRK quoted Ole Bjornevik, of salvor Boa Offshore as saying the refloating operation went “better than expected”.
Helberg told TV2: “I doubt I’ll ever experience anything quite like this again. I wouldn’t have traded this experience for anything.”
Containers had been taken off the vessel prior to refloating.
Police said the watch officer was asleep at the time of the incident.
Norwegian police have arrested the Ukrainian seafarer and charged him with negligent navigation.
They are also examining adherence to rules involving working and rest hours.
No one was injured in the incident, including the 16 crew members.
NCL described the incident as “serious”.
