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Shipping: MSC ““Napoli””

My honourable friend the Minister of State for Transport (Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Ministerial Statement. This Statement is to update the House on the progress of the salvage operation for the MSC ““Napoli”” and follows on from my previous Written Statement, issued on 25 January, as well as the oral Statement I made on 1 February. Since my last Statement, work has continued on removing oil and containers from the MSC ““Napoli””. Virtually all the heavy fuel oil has now been removed, with only small residual amounts left in hard-to-reach spaces. Removal of diesel oil continues. The risk of a major oil pollution incident with the potential to cause widespread environmental damage has therefore passed. Work on removing containers from the ship is continuing as quickly as the prevailing weather conditions will allow. As of the evening of Monday 26 February, all 853 deck containers have now been removed and work has commenced on removing containers from the holds. One hundred and fourteen containers have fallen overboard since the ““Napoli”” was grounded. We do not believe that the contents of any of these present a significant risk to either human health or the environment. It is likely that a small number of additional containers could be lost, depending on future weather conditions, and plans are in place for their recovery should this occur. Where containers are found on the beach, Coastguard rescue teams and contractors go on site with security officers and the police to ensure that the area is completely shut off to the public. The police are warning the public that they will use their powers of arrest of anyone attempting to remove articles from beaches. The normal arrangements in terms of recovery of wreck material through voluntary salvage do not apply in the case of the MSC ““Napoli””, now that comprehensive salvage contracts have been placed by the owners of the ship (and the consignors) to recover all items from the vessel, including those lost overboard and washed ashore. On 23 February, reports were received that some debris from the cargo of the MSC ““Napoli”” had washed ashore along the coastline from Bournemouth through to the Isle of Wight. Local authorities are being advised to contact the ship owner’s contractor for shoreline clean-up. Vessels equipped with side-scan sonar continue to search for those containers that were lost overboard and are believed to have sunk. Despite some disruption from severe weather, this work is proceeding well and several containers have already been located. I should like to express once again my gratitude to Robin Middleton, the Secretary of State’s representative for maritime salvage and intervention, as well as all of those who were involved in the rescue, salvage and recovery operations. It is thanks to their efforts that there has been no loss of human life and that the impact on the environment has been far less severe than could otherwise have been the case.