Honey, did you call for a ship?
It certainly was a rude awakening. Johan Helberg was fast asleep until about 5am Thursday morning when he was roused by his neighbor pounding on his front door. Helberg’s panicked neighbor, who had seen the ship heading straight for shore, repeatedly rang his doorbell and eventually called him on the phone. “I didn’t hear anything,” Helberg said. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open it.” “I went to the window and was quite astonished to see a big ship out the window,” Helberg told the Norwegian broadcaster TV2, adding, “I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal.” The 442-foot-long NCL Salten was sailing to the western city of Orkanger when it went off course and ran aground in Helberg’s front yard. Just a few feet “further south, and it would have entered the bedroom,” Helberg said in a separate interview with Norway’s public broadcaster.
His neighbor Jostein Jorgensen, who was startled awake by the sound of the ship as it raced toward the shore. “I was sure that he was already outside but no, there was no sign of life. I rang the doorbell many times and nothing,” Jorgensen told TV2. “It was only when I called him on the phone that I managed to contact him,” he added. Norwegian police are investigating what caused the incident and have identified one suspect on board, a spokesperson for Trøndelag police district told NRK. Allegedly, the helmsman fell asleep while in the channel.
The North Sea Container Line (NCL), the shipping company that chartered the ship, said in a press release Friday that a rescue operation was ongoing, adding that its highest priority was to ensure a safe and secure salvage operation. “We are grateful that no one was injured in connection with yesterday’s grounding, and that everyone is safe — both on land where the ship grounded and on board,” it said. “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,” it added. “We are also conducting internal inquiries but prefer not to speculate further.” An initial attempt by the Norwegian Coastal Administration tugboat to pull it back into the sea failed. NCL said in an update that another attempt would only take place Friday. It was unclear if that had succeeded. Helberg, meanwhile, said that large ships often pass by his home, but they usually stay within the deeper waters of the fjord rather than his yard. There were no reports of injuries or oil spills.
Surprise Humor
My parents tried to surprise me with a car this Christmas…
Fortunately they missed.
Did you hear about the ship that crashed on an island with a cargo of red and brown paint?
Apparently the whole crew was marooned.
What do you do with a drunken sailor?
What do you do with a drunken sailor?
What do you do with a drunken sailor early in the morning?
Don’t let him drive that cargo freighter,
Don’t let him steer that cargo freighter,
Don’t let him near that cargo freighter,
Early in the morning.
I was surprised to find that “Trailer Park Barbie” doesn’t come with bruising on her body.
Then I realized battery not included.
May 27th Birthdays
1961 – Perl Gilpin, 1968 – Rebekah Brooks, 1961 – Cathy Silvers, 1978 – Shanola Hampton
1911 – Vincent Price, 1958- Lou Gosset, Jr, 1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, 1950 – Adam Carolla