Author Topic: MSC Napoli may be scuttled  (Read 6252 times)

Offline Timsen

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MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« on: May 10, 2007, 09:34:56 AM »
Salvage experts trying to decide what to do with the beached container ship MSC Napoli say that one option under consideration is to tow the vessel to deep water and sink her.
Work has been going since its grounding to recover her cargo of containers, but the last of these is expected to be removed in the near future.

Although the 53,000-tonne ship has not yet been declared a Constructive Total Loss, salvors say that her size presents a major problem. She has a normal draught of 19m, and there is no guarantee that she can be refloated sufficiently for her to be towed to a suitably deep dock.

Towing her out to deep water and sinking her, after all pollutants have first been removed, may be the only solution.

Offline Derell Licht

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2007, 01:56:25 PM »
hmmm... if they can't refloat her to tow her (a), how can they refloat her to tow her (b) ???  :-?
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Offline CedricH

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2007, 06:41:35 PM »
Hi,

drydocks have a limited draught. If there is too much damage, they will not be able to refloat her enough to be able to tow her into a port or drydock.
Hope that cleared things out a bit  :-)

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Cedric
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Offline channel

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2007, 07:12:41 PM »
I had heard they were looking to remove her in sections in a similar manner to the Tricolour.

Have also heard she is now well settled into the seabed.

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Channel

Offline Glenn Towler

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2007, 12:26:09 PM »
I reckon she will be broken up where she is, like the S A Aughulas in South Africa.  

Now I am in Tasmania, Australia so where would be the nearest drydock to her current postion you could get her into?

If they do refloat her, and with no weight in her once they pump the water out of the holds, she may be well high enough out of the water to put a band aid on her and tow her to dry dock.

Obviously scuttling her in the english channel is not an option which means most likley she would be scuttled in the North sea but you still have to get her out there with out sinking first.

Alternitavley she may just be left there, to the forces of nature to break up.
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Offline Derell Licht

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2007, 02:31:52 PM »
That's what they did with Jolly Rubino in South Africa, I think.  She'd settled into the beach and also had large hull cracks, so they just removed all hazardous materials and cut holes in her so people could explore the wreck.

Sadly, we could *never* do something like that here in the glorious USA... someone would cut themselves on a piece of metal and end up suing everyone in the world...
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Offline nick

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2007, 04:22:39 PM »
I don't think they wanted people inside the Jolly Rubino, I think they just blew it up so that it would break up faster.

We have stuff like that in the USA, look at the Speigel Grove and the USS Oriskany for example, both cleaned and sunken as reefs for scuba diving. Apparently the Vandenberg is going to share the same fate in 2008.

Offline texasrv

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2007, 03:42:13 PM »
Don't forget she has large cracks and is in danger of breaking in two. That's why she was beached in the first place. even with all the containers off can she be towed any distance without breaking up?

Offline Derell Licht

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2007, 03:55:23 PM »
I've been wondering the same thing.  She's already full of water, which is why the unloading has taken so long.  This suggests that she has major leaks besides the cracks by the bridge.

I know that in some cases they've patched damage to ships on the scene before moving them, but I wonder if Napoli's damage is too great??  I guess we'll see, over time.
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Offline Timsen

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2007, 07:37:31 AM »
Regarding the Jolly Rubino: This is true. Meanwhile the ship is rapidly deteriorating. The same was done for example with the BBC China off SA the superstructure of which was first set alight and then blown up and also the Kiperousa wreck off East London. At least I do not know a wreck which was opened up for tourist purposes. Some weeks ago the Cherry Venture was broken up in Australiea because of asbestos found inside the machine room about 40 years after the grounding. But nevertheless old wrecks can be a tourist attraction above the water or beneath the surface, f.e. the Maheno in Australia and the rising number of ships which were intentionally sunk not only off the American coast but moreless worldwide as tourist attractions on the one hand and artficial reefs and habitats on the other.

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2007, 08:26:45 AM »
The Jolly Rubino was partly blown up - correct. There are some great shots of this wreck on this web site. The reason being - to assist and speed up the natural breaking up process with the help of the sea. The BBC China was a different story - the reason her superstructure was blown up was to stop people on the shore going to the ship which was dangerous as you can imagine. The salvors were great - they invested in the local community and educated the locals about the perils of trying to go on board and explained that nothing was left to salvage !

Offline Andrea Citterico

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2007, 12:35:41 PM »
Are there any picture of work in progress on her?

Offline Derell Licht

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2007, 02:12:56 PM »
Yes, I also would like to see more current pictures.  I've been following the progress from the Devon web site, but they haven't been posting photos.  I'd love to see some photos of the underwater work that has to be done to release the inside containers, but of course they have more important work to do than take such pictures...

There was an amusing note on the friday report:
"The Health Protection Agency has followed up the story that vodka was stolen from a container at Portland Port (as reported in media yesterday).  There were concerns that the vodka may be contaminated, and Dorset Police issued a warning urging 'anyone who has bought a bottle of vodka from a man in the Weymouth area not to drink it."   The advice from the Salvage Control Unit to the Health Protection Agency is that the vodka has been tested and found in good condition."

As far as making ships accessible to visitors, I was sure I'd read a report about some ship being cut open so people could explore... I wonder if I'm thinking of American Star??  Of course, since I can't find the report that I'm thinking of, I can't check it's credibility; there's alot of junk out there...
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Offline nick

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2007, 03:39:52 PM »
people upload photos of the ship from time to time on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=msc+napoli&s=rec

Offline Timsen

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Re: MSC Napoli may be scuttled
« Reply #14 on: May 15, 2007, 07:45:52 AM »
Very surely not the American Star. It was always dangerous to enter this wreck due to wave impact and currents. About 8 people died trying to access the wreck, and it would never have been officially allowed (of course, very many people boarded and pl

 

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