The two and a half year salvage operation to remove the wreckage of the MSC Napoli has officially been declared over.  The vessesl was intentionally beached off the Devon coast, UK in January 2007 after it was damaged in a storm in the English Channel. BBC tells us:

A survey of the seabed was carried out to clearly demonstrate that there was no further risk to safety or risk of pollution from hazardous substances, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

The SOSREP, Hugh Shaw, said he officially declared an end to the salvage and wreck removal operations on Wednesday 29 July.

The incident drew worldwide attention after a design flaw in the ships hull was found to be the root cause of the accident, prompting the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) to order the urgent strengthening of ships similar in design.  Of course, who could forget the many images and videos of the thousands of scavengers that flocked to Branscombe beach when containers from the Napoli washed ashore loaded with everything from BMW motorcyles to candy bars.

Check out gCpatain’s full coverage of the incident HERE.

More information on the incident can be found at CargoLaw.com

Maritime Photographer Frodog brings us this HD image of the infamous MSC Napoli in drydock. He writes:

In a Dry Dock aft of the Resolution was this Hulk of a ship, being broken up. it transpired to be the Napoli, which ran aground around about this time last year, off the Devon and Dorset coast, with many items of her cargoes washing ashore, including BMW motor cycles amongst other stuff, which bounty hunters rightly claimed ownership. Whilst looking around, there was a decontamination unit working. What are they decontaminating? I ask. I was lucky enough not to be asked not to take photographs, unlike a colleague of mine who was prevented from doing so! LINK

On June 12, efforts to remove the final section of the wrecked container ship got under way as salvors working to raise the stern – including the ship’s 1,400-tonne engine – laid new chains under the hull to help them lift it off the sea bed . Salvors aim to bring the remains of the vessel to the surface by August so it can be scrapped.

Read the latest on the MSC Napoli salvage operation at BBC HERE

Via CargoLaw

BBC News tells us:

Accident investigators have identified 12 other ships that could suffer the same failure as the container ship MSC Napoli which was beached off Devon and salvaged live on television with explosives.

Urgent strengthening of the ships has been ordered by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

The MAIB blamed the MSC Napoli’s design after a series of large waves left a crack in her hull in January last year.

Vertical cracks could be seen in the hull below the waterline on the port and starboard sides, and the ship’s master assessed that the vessel had “broken her back.”

A “wall of oily water” shot through the cracked hull of the ship before it was safely abandoned, the report said.

The hull failure was due to “lack of buckling strength in the engine room region,” said the MAIB report.

More than 1,500 similar ships were screened following the incident, of which 12 unidentified ships required strengthening work “to bring them up to acceptable safety standards,” said the report.

Stephen Meyer, chief inspector of the MAIB said: “The MAIB has worked closely with the world’s leading classification societies to identify any other vessels that may have the same design flaw as the MSC Napoli. Continue Reading…

You can view the Full MAIB report courtesy of the BBC  HERE.

Early last week the BBC also told us of the operation to recycle the ship:

Now the front section of the MSC Napoli is two weeks away from the smelters’.

The firm that built the Titanic – Harland and Wolff – landed the task of dismantling the cargo ship, which had to be beached on the Devon coast.

At the time there were incredible scenes of people rushing to the beach to take advantage of the unexpected bounty of the sea, in the shape of containers of motorcycles and other goods washed ashore.

The Belfast shipyard became one of the benefactors of the sad destruction of the ocean-going behemoth, keeping 80 pairs of hands busy at the yard.

It has been an interesting assignment for the crews, an estimated five cubic tonnes of waste oil needing removal became an actual 100 tonnes, adding to the workload of staff.

Now the cutting up of the superstructure is nearing completion and is expected to end up leaving 60,000 tonnes of ship-building grade steel, with the exception of one piece that was auctioned off for the BBC’s Children in Need charity. Continue Reading…

They also have photos of the scrapping operation HERE.

Finally, Maritime Accident Casebook shares with us MSC Napoli Crew Knew The Drill, they write:

“It was evident during the investigation that the master had placed a great deal of emphasis on the importance of safety drills and the maintenance of lifesaving equipment, and that the preparation and lowering of lifeboats had been well-practiced in accordance with company policy.”

No-one was hurt during the evacuation from the ship, and that may be owed to the seriousness with which the master took safety procedures and drills.

The abandon ship did not go without a hitch, “the crewman sitting nearest the forward painter release could not pull the release pin sufficiently far to allow the painter to disengage. He was squeezed between two other crew and his movement was restricted by his immersion suit. The painter was eventually cut by the chief engineer, who had a knife, and was able to reach the painter via the lifeboat’s forward hatch.” Continue Reading…

Here is the ship arriving in Belfast:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Here is the underwater survey on the damaged section of the ship:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Here is the MSC Napoli in Photo:

For our previous related discussion click on our MSC Napoli tag.

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The beached vessel “MSC Napoli” was broken in two with the use of explosives as part of the $100m and rising salvage attempt. The Guardian UK tells us:

When the cargo vessel was refloated last week, a diving survey revealed that the hull was severely damaged and it was beached again on Thursday. Attempts to break the hull during high tide failed on Monday morning, prompting the decision to use explosives yesterday, when a 1,000-metre exclusion zone was placed around the ship.

Salvage teams will assess whether a further detonations are necessary to finally remove the vessel from the world heritage Jurassic Coast. Read More…

Here is the BBC Footage of the event:

Click here to view the embedded video.

For those who do not know the story Eagle Speak has the history HERE.

Click for photos:

More pictures can be found here:

Container Ship MSC Napoli Photo Slideshow

Here is some amazing video of the Coast Guard Rescue operation:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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