MSC Napoli

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Career (United Kingdom)
Name: MSC Napoli
Builder: Samsung Heavy Industries, Kŏje Shipyard
Launched: 1991
Out of service: 2007
Fate: Damaged in storm on 18 January 2007; beached on 19 January 2007; broken up on 20 July 2007
Notes: Previously named: CMA CGM Normandie, Nedlloyd Normandie, CGM Normandie
General characteristics
Tonnage: 53,409
Length: 275.66 metres (904 ft 5 in)
Beam: 37.10 metres (121 ft 9 in)
Draft: 13.8 metres (45 ft 3 in)
Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h)
Capacity: 4734 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of cargo with 2684 TEU on deck and 2050 TEU below.
Crew: 31

MSC Napoli was a United Kingdom-flagged container ship that was deliberately broken up by salvors after she ran into difficulty in the English Channel on 18 January 2007.

The ship was built in 1991 and has a capacity of 4,419 TEU (62,000 tons). She was built by Samsung Heavy Industries, Kŏje Shipyard, owned by Metvale Ltd., a British Virgin Islands Brass Plate single entity company, managed by Zodiac Maritime Agencies, and was under charter to Mediterranean Shipping Company.[1]

In 2001, then named CMA CGM Normandie, she was en route from Port Klang in Malaysia to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta when she ran aground on a reef in the Singapore Strait and remained stuck for several weeks.[2] She was repaired by the Hyundai-Vinashin Shipyard in Khánh Hòa Province, Vietnam,[3] which included the welding of more than 3,000 tonnes of metal onto the hull.[4]

Contents

[edit] Kyrill

Position of MSC Napoli when she was abandoned
Position of MSC Napoli when she was abandoned

While en route from Belgium to Portugal, on January 18, 2007, during European windstorm Kyrill, severe gale force winds and huge waves caused serious damage to her hull, with a crack in one side as well as a flooded engine room.[5] The ship was then 50 miles (80 km) off the coast of The Lizard, Cornwall.

At around 10:30 GMT, 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 rescued. They 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.[6] 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.

[edit] Beached at Lyme Bay

MSC Napoli beached off Branscombe
MSC Napoli beached off Branscombe

On 19 January, the ship was taken under tow by the salvage tug Abeille Bourbon, later joined by Abeille Liberté. It was decided to tow the vessel to the safe haven of Portland Harbour, Dorset some 140 miles distant, the closer ports of Falmouth, Cornwall and Plymouth, Devon being rejected in addition to others in France, although the Falmouth harbour master Captain Mark Sansom said he had confirmed that the Napoli could have been accommodated in Falmouth Bay.[7] Adrian Sanders MP for the parliamentary constituency of Torbay has raised questions about why the Napoli had not originally been taken to Falmouth or France.[8]

The flotilla proceeded up the English Channel with the Napoli increasing its list and with strong winds forecast refuge was taken in Lyme Bay. Lyme Bay is described as relatively sheltered from Northwest, west and Southwest winds, common at this time of year. The ship’s deteriorating condition raised doubts as to its ability to withstand the rigours of the journey to Portland. The decision was taken by Robin Middleton, Secretary of State's Representative in Maritime Salvage and Intervention who was leading the MCAs salvage response team, to deliberately beach the ship in Lyme Bay. Mr Middleton said that the environmental sensitivities in the Lyme Bay area were fully assessed before the decision to beach the 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”.[9] Julian Wardlaw, who spoke for the Environment Group, an umbrella organisation for local green agencies, said Mr Middleton had contacted it and asked where in Lyme Bay was the best place to beach the Napoli. Mr Wardlaw said: "We told them: 'Nowhere in Lyme Bay'. It is too important an environment.”[10] The chosen beaching location was at Branscombe around 1 mile off the Devon coast, near the coastal town of Sidmouth.[11] This area of the coastline where MSC Napoli was beached is a part of Britain's first natural World Heritage Site, the Jurassic Coast. In winter Lyme Bay hosts large numbers of wintering sea birds whilst the sea bed “was habitat for endangered species such as the pink sea fan[12] and sunset cup coral[13]”.[14]

Devon county councillor Stuart Hughes said, "So many questions need to be answered there has got to be a public enquiry”.[15] 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 the Napoli to an area of protected World Heritage Site coastline.[16]

[edit] Pollution risk

Of the 41,773 tonnes of cargo on board, "1,684 tonnes are of products classified as dangerous by the International Maritime Organization".[17] Some 103 containers fell into the sea.[18] Oil spilt 5 miles to the north-east, which affected some sea birds.[18] More than 420 were taken to the nearby West Hatch RSPCA Wildlife Centre, though most of the affected creatures faced permanent injury or death.[19] The ship BSAD Argonaute proceeded to the spill area with anti-pollution personnel and equipment.[20]

[edit] Scavenging

See also: Wrecking (shipwreck)

After containers from the wreck began washing up at Branscombe, around two hundred people ventured onto the beach to scavenge the flotsam, despite warnings from the police that those failing to notify the Receiver of Wreck of goods salvaged risked fines.[21] Scavenged goods include several BMW R1200RT motorcycles, empty wine casks, nappies, perfume, and car parts.[22] After initially tolerating a "salvage" free-for-all, by 23 January the police had branded the activity of scavengers "despicable", closed the beach, and announced that they would use powers not previously used for 100 years in order to force people to return goods they had salvaged without informing the authorities, pointing out that under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 such actions constituted an offence equivalent to theft.[23]

[edit] Salvage and clean up operation

Over the course of the new week, from 22 January, an attempt to remove the oil, and other hazardous materials from the Napoli was made. However the oil was very viscous in cold weather, and needed to be warmed up before it could be pumped onto the tugs. On 23 January 2007 further details of the forthcoming salvage operation of both the ship and its cargo were released. The main point of concern being the threat of an oil spill, some seabirds had already been affected and recovered along the Jurassic Coast.

Aside from the main salvage operation of the Napoli, a local salvage firm was appointed and tasked with clearing up the beach and removing the containers and flotsam. The earlier scavenging of the washed up containers and cargo created a difference of opinion among many people, some claiming it had made the clean up of the beach harder as wreckers had forced open some sealed containers and sifted through the contents, leaving the unwanted items strewn across the beach. It was however claimed by others that by removing the flotsam they had in fact contributed to the clean up of Branscombe beach.

Items from the Napoli began to make landfall all along the South coast of England as far east as the Isle of Wight.[24]

The issue of wrecking or collecting the flotsam from the beach caused a great deal of discussion and gained much media attention as the locals and the authorities became more and 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.[25]

Following this announcement, and for safety reasons whilst the beach clean up operation got under way, the Police (Devon and Cornwall Constabulary) together with the support of the National Trust (the owners of the beach) and the coastguard set up road blocks to effectively close the beach. At the same time the salvage firm erected fences on the beach to prevent public access.

MSC Napoli on 20th July 2007, seen from the cliffs between Beer and Branscombe.
MSC Napoli on 20th July 2007, seen from the cliffs between Beer and Branscombe.

[edit] Breaking up of wreck

On 9 July 2007 the Napoli was successfully refloated,[26] but was immediately re-beached as a three metre gash was found in the vessel's hull.[27] The decision was made to break the ship up on Branscombe beach, this was attempted using explosives after a previous attempt to use the spring tides failed to break the ship apart.[28] The Napoli remained in one piece having survived two attempts to break the ship in two with the explosives. With it reported that only her deck plates on the main deck were 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. On 20 July 2007 the ship was finally split in two by means of a third explosion.

[edit] Disposal

Bow section of the MSC Napoli in Belfast Lough on 16 August 2007.
Bow section of the MSC Napoli in Belfast Lough on 16 August 2007.

In August 2007 the bow section of the ship's hull was taken to the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland for disposal and recycling. HM Coastguard placed a 500 m exclusion zone around the wreckage while it was anchored in Belfast Lough, while awaiting entry to the yard. Once refloated, the smaller stern section will also be towed to Belfast.[29] The ship is now going to be broken up by shipbuilders Harland & Wolff, Belfast.

The stern section is to be cut up in situ, with work starting in May 2008 expected to take five months.[30]

[edit] MAIB Investigation and report

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch conducted an investigation into the accident, and a report on the investigation was publised at the end of April 2008.[31]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Det Norske Veritas. DNV Exchange - MSC Napoli.
  2. ^ "PSi Daily Shipping News", 2001-03-31. 
  3. ^ Vietnam Investment Review. "Khanh Hoa shipyard wins repair bid.", 2001-06-25. Retrieved on 2007-01-23. 
  4. ^ http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21676331.htm Beached British container ship sheds cargo and oil
  5. ^ Daily Telegraph. Nine dead as storms lash Britain. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
  6. ^ Royal Navy. Culdrose Helicopters Rescue Twenty Six Seamen.
  7. ^ Morris, Steven. "Storm grows over Napoli's threat to world heritage coast", Guardian Unlimited, 2007-01-27. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  8. ^ "Most of Napoli's fuel oil removed", BBC News OnLine, 2007-01-31. Retrieved on 2007-01-31. 
  9. ^ "British Shipwreck Menaces World Heritage Devon Coast", Environment News Service, 2007-01-22. Retrieved on 2007-01-29. 
  10. ^ Morris, Steven. "Storm grows over Napoli's threat to world heritage coast", Guardian Unlimited, 2007-01-27. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  11. ^ BBC News. Pollution watch as ship beaches. Retrieved on 2007-01-23.
  12. ^ Pink Sea Fan. Action for Biodiversity in the South- West. Retrieved on 2007-01-29.
  13. ^ Sunset cup coral. Marine Life Information Network for Britain and Ireland(MarLIN). Retrieved on 2007-01-29.
  14. ^ Morris, Steven. "Wildlife at risk from beached ship's oil", Guardian Unlimited, 2007-01-26. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  15. ^ "Impact worse than foot and mouth", Devon24/Sidmouth Herald, 2007-01-26. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  16. ^ "Most of Napoli's fuel oil removed", BBC News OnLine, 2007-01-31. Retrieved on 2007-01-31. 
  17. ^ Press release from the Préfecture maritime, January 18, 2007.
  18. ^ a b BBC News. Beached ship sheds chemical cargo.
  19. ^ BBC News. The real victims of Napoli's loss. Retrieved on 2006-01-24.
  20. ^ Press release from the Préfecture maritime, January 19, 2007.
  21. ^ BBC News. Scavengers take washed-up goods. Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
  22. ^ BBC News Magazine. Can you keep ship-wrecked goods?. Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
  23. ^ BBC NEWS | England | Police crack down on scavengers
  24. ^ The Ranger's Blog: Account of Napoli clear-up on the Isle of Wight
  25. ^ Maritime and Coastguard Agency (23 January 2007). "WORK CONTINUES ON MSC NAPOLI". Press release.
  26. ^ BBC News. "Stricken container ship refloated", 9 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  27. ^ BBC News. "Damaged ship Napoli beached again", 13 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  28. ^ Explosives to be used on Napoli BBC News, 16 July 2007
  29. ^ "Napoli tugged to final resting place", UTV, 15 August 2007. 
  30. ^ Maritime & Coastguard Agency (27 March 2008). "WORK TO REMOVE STERN OF MSC NAPOLI TO START IN MAY". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
  31. ^ Investigation Report MSC Napoli. Marine Accident Investigation Branch. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.

[edit] External links