Grounded containership successfully refloated in northern Norway

Salvors have successfully refloated a container vessel that had run aground near the town of Lauvset in northern Norway late last week.

The effort to refloat the Cyprus-registered, feeder containership NCL Salten was successfully concluded on the morning (local time) of Tuesday, May 27, after some of the vessel's cargo was offloaded.

The ship was later taken under tow to Orkanger, which was its original final destination.

NCL Salten was navigating the Trondheimsfjord with 16 crew on board when it ran aground and narrowly avoided crashing into some nearby houses near Lauvset at around 05:00 on Thursday, May 22.

Local authorities have determined that the residences did not suffer any damage and that no injuries or oil spills occurred as a result of the mishap.

An eyewitness had told police that the ship sailed straight towards the coast instead of turning left or right as is typical for large vessels navigating the Trondheimsfjord.

NCL Salten's second officer, who was serving as the on-duty navigator at the time of the incident, fell asleep as the ship was still underway near the coast. He has since been charged with negligence in connection with the grounding.