Napoli discharge should be complete by month-end

ALAN PEAT THE CONTAINER ship MSC Napoli – grounded off the coast of Devon since March 20 while en route to South Africa from Europe – could be refloated and towed to the nearby port of Portland by early July, according to the salvors Smit Salvage. Also, said Andrew Robinson, director of Durban lawyers Deneys Reitz: “I can confirm that we have been advised by our UK correspondents, Clyde & Co, that substantial progress has been made with the discharge of containers stowed below deck.” The latest report, he added, showed a total of 1 044 containers had been discharged from the vessel’s holds, leaving 3 07 containers on board. In the meantime, the salvors are continuing the work of discharging pollutants from the aft cargo spaces and the engine room, and a diving team should have started operations in Holds number 5 and 4, patching a number of cracks and openings to the double bottom and bulkheads. Another reason for Smit Salvage’s optimism about refloating the vessel is that the serious list the vessel had after she was grounded has been almost righted. At first the vessel was listing over to starboard by 25° during high tide. After the vessel settled onto the sand, pebble and boulder seafloor, the list decreased to 13°, and during discharge of the deck-side containers it slowly decreased to some 8.5° to starboard. The condition of the vessel remained more or less stable, added Smit, and no serious further deterioration of the structural integrity was noticed. “According to the predicted timeline,” said Robinson, “the salvors anticipate completing the discharge of remaining containers by about the end of May. “It is possible that some containers will remain in number 6 hold until after the vessel is refloated. The timeline further envisages refloating the vessel towards the end of June with delivery at Portland at the beginning of July. “The foregoing is of course both weather and condition dependent.”