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A team of salvage experts were attempting last night to avert an environmental disaster as a stricken container ship threatened to break in half just a mile from a heritage coastline.
An estimated 200 containers, some carrying toxic substances, had fallen from the MSC Napoli into the sea off the Devon coast by yesterday afternoon. There are concerns that the ship may not be able to withstand a deterioration in weather that is forecast today.
Coastguards said last night that 200 tonnes of oil had already leaked out of the ship, which is carrying 3,500 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. There is now an 8km sheen of oil on the water’s surface.
The ship, which was caught up in fierce storms on Thursday, has severe structural damage and was deliberately beached to prevent her and her cargo sinking in deep water.
Her cargo includes 157 containers that are holding toxic substances such as sulphuric acid and pesticides. Containers began to topple off the Napoli on Saturday night and early yesterday morning as rough seas caused her to list at up to 35 degrees.
Environmentalists questioned last night whether the ship should have been at sea at all after she had extensive repairs in Vietnam after striking a coral reef in South-East Asia in 2001. The ship, built in 1991, grounded at full speed in the Strait of Malacca, the main waterway between the Indian and Pacific oceans. The vessel, then known as the CMA CGM Normandie, was stranded on the reef for 60 days. It is not known how this affected her structural integrity.
Melissa Moore, policy officer at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “If the vessel had been properly constructed and maintained it should not have suffered structural defects, despite the storm conditions last week, so something has gone wrong in either the design, repair or maintenance of this vessel. Most likely this is due to its previous damage, which was either not properly repaired or was so substantial the vessel was irreparable.”
Salvage specialists boarded the vessel yesterday in calmer weather to assess the damage and make preparations for the removal of the oil and cargo.
The Napoli has cracks around her hull and the decision was taken on Saturday to run her aground off Branscombe, Devon.
The ship, which measures 276 metres (900 feet) and is carrying 2,394 containers, was abandoned by its crew 40 miles (65km) south of The Lizard, Cornwall, on Thursday morning when the vessel was holed and the engine room flooded in the midst of 40ft waves and 75mph winds.
Of the 200 containers lost overboard, three are thought to hold toxic substances including sulphuric acid.
Some were still floating in the sea yesterday but many of the containers, which held cars, BMW motorbikes, spare parts, vehicle airbags, wine, clothing and domestic appliances, were washed up on the shore.
At least two containers, one of which was said to hold four luxury Mercedes cars, are thought to have been opened before police arrived. Thousands of residents and tourists who flocked to the coast were told to leave because of safety concerns. Among the debris that was washed up on Branscombe Beach from 20 containers that split in the sea were a tractor, boxes of perfume and wine barrels. Police closed the beach to prevent looting.
Sergeant Alan Mobbs, of Devon & Cornwall police, said that hundreds of people had turned up to collect “souvenirs” from the wreckage. “All sorts of things have been turning up,” he said. Of particular interest were wine barrels full of alcohol and bottles of perfume. But people are taking anything they can get their hands on.
“Obviously it is an issue of public safety because we simply don’t know what is in a container until it is opened.”
Tug boats attached lines to the Napoli and were towing her to Portland, but the ship was beached in Lyme Bay when it was realised that she would sink before reaching port.
Despite the concerns about the chemicals on board the vessel, the immediate worry surrounded her 3,500 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and diesel. If the vessel breaks up the fuel tanks could be ruptured, causing potentially devastating contamination.
Robin Middleton, a spokesman for the Department for Transport, said: “The salvage plan is concerned with the oils which we deem to be the greater threat. They include diesel and 3,500 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. At the moment it is all contained within the vessel.”
A floating boom was put in place around the Napoli to prevent spilt oil from spreading, but it had to be removed after the containers fell off the ship.
A team of salvagers were on board and preparing to remove the oil. They fitted pumps and pipes and hope to begin extracting it today. They were also working to stabilise the Napoli by laying out anchors and flooding empty ballast tanks with water. The contents of the containers remain the property of the original owners, but people who report their finds may be entitled to a salvage award, said Sophia Exelby, the Receiver of Wreck.
The salvage team from Smits, a Dutch company, will begin to remove the remaining containers once the ship has been stabilised and the oil removed. The Napoli, which weighs 53,000 tonnes, is registered in London and was last inspected by the Coastguard Agency in May 2005, when officials said that she met safety standards.
Running aground
March 23, 2003 RMS Mulheim aground at Sennen Cove, near Land's End: 2,200 tonnes of shredded plastic littered beaches
June 29, 2003 MV Jambo sank off west coast of Scotland near the Summer Isles after striking rocks: less than half 3,300-tonne cargo of zinc sulphide recovered
December 14, 2002 The Tricolor and £30 million load of luxury cars sank in Channel after colliding with vessel 30 miles off Ramsgate. It took two years to remove wreck
February 2, 2002 Hundreds of people loaded their vehicles with timber from the cargo of the Kodima which was beached near Plymouth
February 15, 1996 Sea Empress oil tanker disaster at Milford Haven. More than 120 miles of coast was polluted, 120,000 birds died, and £100m of damage caused
