MSC Napoli
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History | |
---|---|
Name | MSC Napoli |
Owner | Metvale Limited |
Operator | Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd |
Port of registry |
|
Builder |
|
Yard number | 1082 |
Launched | 24 August 1991 |
Out of service | January 2007 |
Renamed |
|
Identification |
|
Fate | Damaged in storm on 18 January 2007; beached on 19 January 2007; broken up on 20 July 2007. Finally removed in July 2009.[1] |
Notes | [2] |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | |
Length | 275.66 m (904.4 ft) |
Beam | 37.10 m (121.7 ft) |
Draught | 13.8 m (45 ft 3 in) |
Installed power | 34,480 KW |
Speed | 24 kn (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
Capacity | |
Crew | 31 |
Notes | [2] |
MSC Napoli was a United Kingdom-flagged container ship that developed a hull breach due to rough seas and slamming in the English Channel on 18 January 2007. She was deliberately run aground at Lyme Bay to avoid an environmental disaster and broken up by salvors.
Early history
The ship was built in 1991 and had a capacity of 4,419
On 27 March 2001, then named CMA CGM Normandie, she was en route from
Kyrill
While en route from Belgium to Portugal on 18 January 2007, during
At approximately 10:30 UTC, the crew sent out a distress call. Not long afterwards, the captain ordered the crew to abandon ship into one of the lifeboats. They were out at sea for several hours before all 26 crew were picked up from their lifeboat by Sea King helicopters of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and taken to Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall.[8] During the difficult rescue, one helicopter broke two winch lines, making it even harder to rescue the seamen. The rough seas and gale-force winds gave the men acute seasickness, and in some cases dehydration due to overheating.[citation needed]
Beached at Lyme Bay
On 19 January 2007, the ship was taken under tow by the
The flotilla proceeded up the English Channel; with MSC Napoli increasing its list and with strong winds forecast refuge was taken in Lyme Bay. Lyme Bay is sheltered from northwest, west and southwest winds, common at that time of year. The ship’s deteriorating condition raised doubts about its ability to withstand the rigours of the journey to Portland. Robin Middleton, the Secretary of State's Representative in Maritime Salvage and Intervention who was leading the MCA's salvage response team, decided to beach the ship in Lyme Bay. Middleton said that the environmental sensitivities in the Lyme Bay area were fully assessed before the decision to beach MSC Napoli was made. He said, "The beaching location was selected based on minimising the impact of any spillage and enabling salvage work to remove the vessel and cargo to take place. The local authorities and environmental groups have been notified and all agencies are working together to ensure that pollution is minimised”.[11] Julian Wardlaw, who spoke for the Environment Group, an umbrella organisation for local green agencies, said Middleton had contacted it and asked where in Lyme Bay was the best place to beach MSC Napoli. Wardlaw said: "We told them: 'Nowhere in Lyme Bay'. It is too important an environment."[9] However, at a subsequent public enquiry Wardlaw said he supported the decision to deliberately ground the stricken container ship off the East Devon coastline describing it as the ‘least worst option.’[12]
The beaching location was at
Devon county councillor Stuart Hughes said, "So many questions need to be answered there has got to be a public enquiry".[17] Brian Greenslade, leader of Devon County Council, confirmed that the council would be holding a public inquiry into the beaching. The move came amid questions about the decision to take MSC Napoli to an area of protected World Heritage Site coastline.[18]
Pollution risk
Of the 41,773 tonnes of cargo on board, "1,684 tonnes are of products classified as dangerous by the
Scavenging
After containers from the wreck began washing up at Branscombe, around two hundred people went onto the beach to scavenge the
Salvage and cleanup operation
Over the course of the next week, from 22 January, an attempt to remove the oil and other hazardous materials from MSC Napoli was made. The oil was very
Aside from the main salvage operation of MSC Napoli, a local salvage firm was appointed to clear up the beach and remove the containers and flotsam. The earlier scavenging of the washed-up containers and cargo created a difference of opinion among people, some claiming it made the cleanup of the beach harder as wreckers forced open some sealed containers and sifted through the contents, leaving the unwanted items strewn across the beach. Others claimed that removing the flotsam contributed to the cleanup of Branscombe beach.[citation needed]
Items from MSC Napoli began to make landfall all along the south coast of England as far east as the Isle of Wight.[27]
The issue of wrecking or collecting the flotsam from the beach caused much discussion and gained media attention as the locals and the authorities became more concerned at the level of scavenging taking place from Branscombe beach and elsewhere along the coast. Eventually, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency invoked powers under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The agency said people taking goods would now be asked to deliver the items to the acting Receiver of Wreck on the beach. This effectively meant that no further items could legally be removed from the beach.[28]
Following this announcement, and for safety reasons whilst the beach cleanup operation got under way, the Police (
Breaking-up of wreck
On 9 July 2007 MSC Napoli was refloated,[29] but was immediately re-beached as a crack measuring 3 metres (9.8 ft) was found in the vessel's hull, running down both sides and through the keel.[30] The decision was made to break the ship up near Branscombe beach; this was attempted using explosives after a previous attempt to use the spring tides failed to break the ship apart.[31]
With MSC Napoli remaining in one piece a first controlled explosion blew holes in the deck plating in order to expose the structural beams below using shaped charges with a second cutting punch charge timed 50 milliseconds later than the first. That job successfully exposed the beams, so more charges were planted across the beams which were ultimately severed. With only her deck plates on the main deck holding the vessel together around the bridge structure of the vessel, two tugs at either end of the ship tried to pull the ship apart.[32]
On 20 July 2007 a third controlled explosion finally split the ship in two.
Disposal
A plan to tow the stern section as well to Harland and Wolff was abandoned in March 2008 in favour of cutting it up in situ in the English Channel and removing the pieces.[33][34] Work started in May 2008. Following a parbuckling operation to correct the stern's list and trim,[35] work completed in July 2009.[1][36]
The 13,500 kilograms (29,800 lb) anchor from the vessel was presented to the people of Branscombe and East Devon by the ship's owners Metvale Ltd and was unveiled at Branscombe Mouth on 16 July 2008.[37]
Investigation and report
The
Legacy
The 2009 album Arrogance Ignorance and Greed by West Country folk duo Show of Hands features the track "The Napoli" which comments on the subsequent looting of the wreckage. A Doctor Who episode, titled "The Power of Three", was partially inspired by the story of MSC Napoli.[40][clarification needed]
One of the BMW motorcycles salvaged from the wreck became part of a 2018 public artwork by Christian Kosmas Mayer, sited on the bank of the River Danube in Austria.[41][42]
References
- ^ a b "Napoli salvage is declared over". BBC News. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ a b c "CGM Normandie". French Lines. 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
- ^ "MSC Napoli (24568)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV.
- ^ "PSi Daily Shipping News" (PDF). 31 March 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2006.
- ^ Vietnam Investment Review (25 June 2001). "Khanh Hoa shipyard wins repair bid". Retrieved 23 January 2007.
- ^ Jeremy Lovell (21 January 2007). "Beached British container ship sheds cargo and oil". Reuters AlertNet. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ Daily Telegraph (18 January 2007). "Nine dead as storms lash Britain". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2007.
- ^ Royal Navy. "Culdrose Helicopters Rescue Twenty Six Seamen". Archived from the original on 21 January 2007.
- ^ a b Morris, Steven (27 January 2007). "Storm grows over Napoli's threat to world heritage coast". Guardian Unlimited. London. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
- ^ "Most of Napoli's fuel oil removed". BBC News OnLine. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2007.
- ^ "British Shipwreck Menaces World Heritage Devon Coast". Environment News Service. 22 January 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
- ^ "Napoli remembered". Dorset view. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ BBC News (20 January 2007). "Pollution watch as ship beaches". Retrieved 23 January 2007.
- ^ "Pink Sea Fan". Action for Biodiversity in the South-West. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
- Marine Life Information Network for Britain and Ireland (MarLIN). Retrieved 29 January 2007.
- ^ Morris, Steven (26 January 2007). "Wildlife at risk from beached ship's oil". Guardian Unlimited. London. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
- ^ "Impact worse than foot and mouth". Devon24/Sidmouth Herald. 26 January 2007. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2007.
- ^ "Most of Napoli's fuel oil removed". BBC News OnLine. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2007.
- ^ Press release from the Préfecture maritime Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, 18 January 2007.
- ^ a b BBC News (22 January 2007). "Beached ship sheds chemical cargo". Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ BBC News (24 January 2007). "The real victims of Napoli's loss". Retrieved 24 January 2006.
- ^ "Assistance à un porte-conteneurs en difficulté au nord d'Ouessant - Communiqué n°6" (Press release). Préfecture maritime de l'Atlantique. 19 January 2007. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
- ^ BBC News (22 January 2007). "Scavengers take washed-up goods". Retrieved 22 January 2007.
- ^ BBC News Magazine (22 January 2007). "Can you keep ship-wrecked goods?". Retrieved 22 January 2007.
- ^ "Police crack down on scavengers". BBC News. 23 January 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ "Salvagers allowed to keep BMWs from MSC Napoli". Motorcycle News. 26 October 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
- ^ The Virtual Ranger (25 February 2007). "The Ranger's Blog: Account of Napoli clear-up on the Isle of Wight". Naturenet.net. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "WORK CONTINUES ON MSC NAPOLI" (Press release). Maritime and Coastguard Agency. 23 January 2007. Archived from the original on 27 July 2008.
- ^ BBC News (9 July 2007). "Stricken container ship refloated". Retrieved 13 July 2007.
- ^ BBC News (13 July 2007). "Damaged ship Napoli beached again". Retrieved 13 July 2007.
- ^ Explosives to be used on Napoli BBC News, 16 July 2007
- ^ Salvage Code Red Archived 1 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Salvage Code Red, National Geographic Channel, 2009
- ^ "Napoli tugged to final resting place". UTV. 15 August 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
- ^ "Work to remove stern of MSC Napoli to start in May" (Press release). Maritime & Coastguard Agency. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 27 July 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
- Maritime & Coastguard Agency. Archived from the originalon 20 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ "Pulling power - MSC Napoli aft section lifted". Lloyd's List Daily Commercial News. Informa Australia. 9 July 2009. p. 19.
- ^ BBC News (16 July 2008). "Stricken ship's anchor on display". Retrieved 4 November 2012.
- ^ "Investigation Report MSC Napoli". Marine Accident Investigation Branch. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
- ^ "DNV concludes - the MSC Napoli design is not a general industry problem". 22 April 2008. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
- Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Panini Comics: 36–39.
- ^ Mayer, Christian Kosmas. "Christian Kosmas Mayer - Cycles Galore!, 2018 BMW G650 Xmoto, engraved..." Christian Kosmas Mayer. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Shaw, Neil (30 October 2018). "Motorbike which washed up on Devon beach is turned into art". Retrieved 10 May 2021.
External links
- Sidmouth Herald - News and pictures about MSC Napoli at Branscombe
- Zodiac Maritime Agencies - MSC Napoli
- BYM News & Magazine - MSC Napoli and the wreckers with photos