Cargo ship towed away from Norway home it nearly struck
Ship pulled away Tuesday morning from spot where it ran aground last week
A cargo ship that ran aground in a Norwegian fiord and narrowly missed a house was pulled back into open water and was being towed to a nearby harbour on Tuesday — five days after the spectacular accident.
A tugboat hauled and refloated the NCL Salten off the shore of the Trondheim Fiord on Tuesday morning.
The ship was pulled away from the spot where it ran aground in Byneset at about 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, according to a statement that NCL, the shipping company, posted online.
The vessel was being taken to the nearby harbour of Orkanger.
Norwegian broadcaster NRK quoted Ole T. Bjørnevik, the general manager of the tugboat company tasked with the refloating operation, as saying that it "went better than expected."
A memorable event
For Johan Helberg, the man whose home was nearly hit by the cargo ship, the past few days were something to behold — and to remember.
"I doubt I'll ever experience anything quite like this again," he told Norway's TV2. "I wouldn't have traded this experience for anything."
Containers had been unloaded from the ship ahead of the refloating. The ship ran aground early last Thursday. No oil spills were reported, and none of the 16 people aboard was injured.
The on-duty navigator, the ship's second officer, has been charged with negligent navigation after he allegedly fell asleep on duty.
With files from CBC News and Reuters