NAPOLI UPDATE - Friday 9 February

From the MSC Napoli Response Centre

Seaward

Gale warnings have been issued for the weekend and there is a risk that more containers will wash overboard.  The MCA, Police and local authorities remain on standby to respond in that event.

The vessel is stable at this time and most of the hull has settled on the seabed. Most of the holds are subject to tidal flooding. There is a potential risk of the vessel dividing in two in situ in persistent bad weather.  

Work has continued this afternoon to extract the remaining oil from the service tank in the engine room.  The vast majority of the oil on the Napoli has been successfully removed.

The ship's list has improved, it is now sitting 10 degrees to 13 degrees to starboard depending upon the tide.  The smaller the list, the less strain there is on the containers on deck.

The crane barge, Big Foot, and the shuttle barge have returned temporarily to sheltered harbour at Portland and will return to the Napoli once the current weather conditions have settled.  Before they returned to Portland, the lifting operators had made very good progress to remove the containers.  All the containers on the stern deck have been removed.

Some of the lower containers on the starboard side are showing signs of pressure.  These larger containers are considered to be the most vulnerable.

The exclusion zone around the vessel (including air) is still being enforced.

Onshore

As the sea conditions have worsened, more debris has washed ashore in different locations.  Shampoo bottles have been reported washing ashore on the Torbay and Teignmouth coastline today.

East Devon District Council is stepping up its regular patrol of the beaches to report any sightings of debris washing ashore.

The Police are warning that, in the event of containers washing ashore, they will enforce their powers of arrest of anyone attempting to recover materials from the Napoli.

The 28 day deadline within which time people need to have registered removal of goods from the Napoli to the Receiver of Wreck, runs out Tuesday 20 February, after which time the Police and the MCA's investigating team will follow up all their leads of enquiry.  The Police have collected a good amount of evidence, including photographic evidence.