From Mike Bomford, Exeter 382173, May 17, 2007

Devon authorities have applauded the work of the salvage crew onboard the stricken MSC Napoli as the last of the 2,318 containers is lifted from the vessel today, well ahead of schedule.

The Secretary of State's Representative (SOSRep), Robin Middleton, will now turn his attention to removal of the vessel itself and is considering a number of options for its disposal.

Devon authorities including Devon County Council, East Devon District Council and the Environment Agency have welcomed news of reaching this significant milestone.

Councillor Margaret Rogers, Devon County's Executive Member for Environment and local resident of Branscombe said:

"This is excellent news and our thanks are extended to the hard work, and brave work, of the salvage crew who have executed the onboard recovery operations so well.

"The events that unfolded just four months ago have served to remind us how vulnerable and precious our environment is and also how important it is to our economy. Events could have been disastrous but weren't, thanks to their work, and that of all the agencies involved with the recovery.

"In many ways this has been a test case where the focus has been on containers rather than oil pollution. We believe that lessons can be taken from this incident to help inform and influence contingency plans for future incidents."

Councillor Mike Green, who represents Beer and Branscombe on East Devon District Council, said:

"I cannot speak too highly of the professionalism and dedication shown by the unseen heroes of this whole operation - the salvage crews.

"This incident had the potential to cause major problems for the tourism and fishing industry along the East Devon coastline. In the event, people's worst fears were never realised.

"It would be fair to say that we have been lucky in that the wind and tides have been kind to us, but that does not detract in any way from the superb job the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have done, but in particular the salvage teams.

"Of course there are still some containers on the sea-bed and I would hope that we can rely on the continuing assistance of salvage teams to clear any debris that may be washed ashore in the coming weeks and months."

Giles Bryan of the Environment Agency, said:

"During the last four months we have been monitoring water quality around the Napoli and across Lyme Bay to ensure the local environment is not being polluted. We will continue to do this work until any risk of pollution has receded."

SOSRep Robin Middleton is looking at a number of options for disposal of the vessel including dismantling in its current location or to dismantle the stern and refloat the bow to be towed to an onshore site for recycling.

Another option for consideration is for the vessel to be towed to a deep sea location and sunk, although this would require a number of permissions before it would be deemed acceptable.

Note to Editors

Press Office contacts:

Devon County Council: Mike Bomford, 01392 382173

East Devon District Council: Nick Stephen, 01395 517559

Environment Agency: Bridget Norris, 01392 442008