Navigator Faces Negligence Charges After Cargo Ship Crashes Into Norwegian Garden

Norwegian prosecutors have charged the navigator of a cargo ship after he allegedly fell asleep on duty and the vessel ran aground in one of the country's fjords last week, narrowly missing crashing into a home.

The vessel, named NCL Salten which flies under the Cyprus flag, struck ground just before 6 am on Thursday , coming dangerously close but not quite colliding with Johan Helberg’s home along the Trondheim Fjord coastline.

The unidentified crew member was accused of careless navigation.

There were no reports of oil spills, and all 16 individuals onboard remained unharmed.

Johan Helberg informed Norwegian broadcasting corporation NRK that he had been asleep throughout the entire incident and only became awake when a neighbor began ringing his doorbell.

Fifteen feet farther south, and it would have gone into the bedroom," he told NRK. "I didn’t hear a thing.

The images reveal the vessel's red and green bow merely meters away from Helberg’s residence.

The ship's second officer, who was serving as the navigation officer, was stated by prosecutor Kjetil Bruland Sørensen in a communiqué.

On Monday, crews kept removing containers from the ship to make it easier for them to move out of the location.

Attempts to free the vessel during the high tides over the weekend did not succeed.

The shipping company NCL stated that they were working closely with the investigating authorities.