A towering 135-metre cargo ship has run aground and narrowly missed a house by just seven metres in Norway, while the homeowner was obliviously fast asleep.

A neighbour watched in astonishment as the NCL Salten, travelling at 30km/hr, slammed into Johan Helber’s shoreline property at Byneset on Thursday morning (5am local time).

The neighbour, Jostein Jorgensen, raced to Helber’s house and rang the doorbell which woke him up.

“I went to the window and was quite astonished to see a big ship,” Helber said in an interview with the Guardian.

“I had to bend my neck to see the top of it. It was so unreal.”

Helberg also told media: “We slept just seven meters from where the bow is and didn’t hear a thing.

“There were rocks and seaweed scattered around, so the ship must have scraped along quite smoothly.

“We were lucky. If it had been on a slightly different course, it would have hit the house.”

Jorgensen told the TV2 station that he had been woken up by the sound of the ship as it came disturbingly close.

“I was sure that he (Helber) was already outside, but no, there was no sign of life. I rang the doorbell many times and nothing,” said  Jorgensen.

“And it was only when I called him on the phone that I managed to contact him.”

Photos show just how close the imposing ship came to Helber’s wooden cabin of 25 years, which was surprisingly not damaged.

The bow came to a stop in Helber’s garden, only a few metres from an exterior wall of his home.

The ship had reportedly entered the Trondheim fjord on its way to the western town of Orkanger.

“Normally ships turn left or right into the fjord. But this went straight ahead,” Helberg told the Guardian.

“It was very close to the house.”

The Cyprus-registered ship reportedly had 16 crew members from a number of nations including Norway, Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia.

A spokesperson for Trøndelag police district told media that one person on board had been identified as a “suspect” as an investigation took place.

The shipping line’s chief executive, Bente Hetland, said there was “no reason to believe this was intentional”.

“Incidents like this should not happen, and we have started an investigation into the causes.

“Today, we are relieved that there were no injuries, and our main focus is on the people near the ship and our crew.”