Salvagers on Tuesday pulled a massive cargo ship, which made world headlines for running aground just meters away from a house in Norway, back into the water, the head of the company managing the operation said.

A Ukrainian sailor in his 30s was on watch at the time and said he had fallen asleep, according to Norwegian police, who have charged him with “negligent navigation.”

The 443-foot NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just a stone’s throw from a wooden house around dawn on Thursday.

“It’s good to have said hello, but now it’s time to say goodbye” the occupant of the house, Johan Helberg, told broadcaster NRK on Tuesday.

The containers on the ship, except for those removed to lighten the bow, are still on board and will be unloaded this evening, Ole T. Bjornevik, the managing director of BOA Offshore told AFP, adding that the operation only lasted 30 minutes and an inspection is underway

“This went better than expected,” he told NRK. “This went beyond all expectations.”

The Ukrainian seaman has said none of the cargo ship’s collision alarms had worked, prosecutor Kjetil Bruland Sorensen told news agency NTB.

The investigation will also look into whether the rules on working hours and rest periods were adhered to on ship, according to police.

Helberg, also slept through the incident and only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor rang his doorbell and called him on the phone.

“The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television channel TV2.

The ship reportedly caused damage to a heating pipe in Helberg’s cabin, TV2 reported, but the homeowner said he considered himself lucky.

“If the ship had hit the rocky cliff right next to it, it would have lifted up and hit the house hard,” he told TV2. “It wasn’t many meters off.”

None of the 16 crew members were injured.

Bente Hetland, the CEO of the shipping company that owns NCL Salten, told TV2 that the same ship ran aground twice before — once in 2023 in Hadsel and again in 2024, in Ålesund.

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The helmsman of a huge container ship that ran aground in Norway several feet away from a cabin as its owner slept was probably asleep as well at the time of the accident, Norwegian media reported Friday.

“Only one person was on the bridge at the time. He was steering the vessel, but didn’t change course when entering the Trondheim fjord as he should have,” the news agency NTB reported.

“Police have received information from others who were on board that he was asleep,” police official Kjetil Bruland Sorensen told NTB.

The 443-foot NCL Salten sailed up onto shore next to Johan Helberg’s wooden cabin around dawn on Thursday.

Helberg discovered the unexpected visitor only when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone.

“The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television channel TV2.

His neighbor, Jostein Jorgensen, said he was roused at around 5 a.m. by the sound of a ship heading at full speed toward land and immediately ran to Helberg’s house.

The massive vessel reportedly caused damage to a heating pipe in Helberg’s cabin, TV2 reported, but the homeowner said he considered himself lucky.

“If the ship had hit the rocky cliff right next to it, it would have lifted up and hit the house hard,” he told TV2. “It wasn’t many meters off.”

None of the cargo ship’s 16 crew members were injured, and Norwegian police have opened an investigation.

“We are aware of the police stating that they have one suspect, and we continue to assist the police and authorities in their ongoing investigation,” the NCL shipping group said Friday.

“We are also conducting internal inquiries but prefer not to speculate further,” it added.

Bente Hetland, the CEO of the shipping company, told TV2 that the same ship ran aground twice before — once in 2023 in Hadsel and again in 2024, in Ålesund.

Efforts to refloat the ship have failed so far, and the massive red and green container ship remained stuck, looming over the small cabin.

A man in Norway awoke early Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion.

For an as-yet unknown reason, the 443-foot NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway.

Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had repeatedly rung his doorbell to no avail gave up and called him on the phone.

“The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television channel TV2.

His neighbor, Jostein Jorgensen, said he was roused at around 5 a.m. local time by the sound of a ship heading at full speed toward land and immediately ran to Helberg’s house.

“I was sure that he was already outside, but no, there was no sign of life. I rang the doorbell many times and nothing … And it was only when I called him on the phone that I managed to contact him,” Jorgensen told TV2.

Several hours later, the massive red and green container ship was still stuck near the wooden house, waiting to be refloated.

“It’s a very bulky new neighbor but it will soon go away,” Helberg said.

The ship reportedly caused damage to a heating pipe in Helberg’s cabin, TV2 reported, but the homeowner told the station it could have been much worse.

“If the ship had hit the rocky cliff right next to it, it would have lifted up and hit the house hard,” he told TV2. “It wasn’t many meters off.”

None of the 16 crew members were injured in the incident, the cause of which is being investigated by Norwegian police.

Bente Hetland, the CEO of the shipping company that owns the NCL Salten, told TV2 that the same ship ran aground twice before — once in 2023 in Hadsel and once in 2024, in Ålesund.