Stricken Cargo Ship Poses Pollution Danger to Britain's Coastline

Kate Ravilious in Scotland
for National Geographic News

January 23, 2007

A pristine stretch of Britain's coastline is facing environmental
disaster following the grounding of a cargo ship carrying oil and
hazardous chemicals.

The MSC Napoli, a 68,000-ton (62,000-metric-ton) container ship, has already spilled 220 tons (200 metric tons) of light fuel oil from it's engine room, creating a five-mile-long (eight-kilometer-long) slick on the sea surface just off the southwest coast of the United Kingdom.

The Napoli was sliced open on January 18 during a heavy storm, and initial efforts to tow the ship to Portland Harbor were stymied by severe structural damage.

So the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency decided to beach the ship in Lyme Bay, part a wildlife-rich area near Sidmouth in Devon. The ship's 26-man crew were removed to safety in a dramatic helicopter-rescue operation.

Now salvage crews are working around the clock to remove containers and pump oil off the ship.

The most pressing concern is the ship's 3,900-ton (3,500-metric-ton) store of heavy fuel oil, used to drive the boat.

"If this leaks out, then it will be a very serious incident," said Farooq Mulla, a spokesperson from the country's Environment Agency.

Wildlife at Risk

The area of coast where the Napoli has been beached has been designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).

The location's 95 miles (153 kilometers) of coastline have is home to rich and varied flora and fauna.

Oil reaching shore could threaten rare species such as the pink seafan (a coral) and specialized niche environments such as the maerl beds (areas of slow-growing red seaweeds). (Related: "Alaska Oil Spill Fuels Concerns Over Arctic Wildlife, Future Drilling" [March 20, 2006].)

More than a thousand birds—mostly guillemots and gulls—are already suffering from the effects of the oil spill, adds the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. And these numbers could dramatically increase if the heavy oil starts to leak, they add.

"This incident poses a genuine threat to the variety of life found in Lyme Bay," said Melissa Moore, policy officer with the Marine Conservation Society. "The effects of oil, chemicals, metals, and plastics could be sizable given the quantities and range of materials carried on the Napoli."

Marine biologist Robin Crump added that "heavy fuel oil has a smothering effect, killing creatures like limpets and barnacles." Crump was involved with the cleanup of the Sea Empress oil spill, which occurred near the coast of Wales in 1996.

The Environment Agency has been taking water and shellfish samples from the entire stretch of coast and will be monitoring the effects of the pollution carefully over the coming days and weeks.

If the heavy oil does leak then previous experience indicates that wildlife could be affected for a number of years.

"It depends on the type of oil and the weather conditions, but it will probably take between five and ten years to recover," Crump said.

Toxic Payload

In addition to the oil hazard, around 200 of the ship's 2,323 containers have fallen overboard.

About 160 of the containers are thought to contain hazardous substances such as pesticides and insecticides. Two of these, containing perfume and battery acid, were among those that plunged into the sea.

Droves of looters have taken advantage of the situation at Branscome beach, where most of the containers have washed up, by hauling away new motorbikes, car parts, clothing, and even diapers.

"This has increased the environmental damage by creating lots of litter and damage, making the clean-up operation much more difficult," said Sophia Exelby from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Complex Operation

Many experts also fear that poor weather will hamper the delicate heavy-oil recovery operation, which is expected to last around a week.

"The cold weather means that the oil has a treacle-like consistency and has to be warmed up before it can be pumped off," said Farooq Mulla, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency.

The long process of removing the ship's containers can't begin until all the oil has been pumped off the ship. Lifting the remaining containers and recovering those that have fallen to the bottom of the sea could take a year, experts warn.

So far the weather has remained calm, and an offshore breeze is helping to keep much of the debris away from the coastline. However, stronger winds are forecast for tomorrow, which may slow things down.

As a preventative measure, an inflated tube known as an oil-protection boom has been placed around the ship and across the entrance to the Exe estuary—an important shellfish ground and a designated special protection area due to its bird life.

But "placing a boom around the ship is a joke," said Crump, the marine biologist. "Unless the water is completely flat and calm, the oil will simply go underneath."

Ironically, bad weather could be helpful in limiting the damage to wildlife, Crump added.

"In stormy conditions the oil is pulverized by the waves and cleaned away naturally by the sea."

Poor History

Meanwhile, many experts are speculating over whether the Napoli, owned by Virgin Islands-based company Metvale Ltd., should even have been out at sea in the first place.

The ship previously ran aground in 2001 in the Strait of Malacca, an important shipping lane linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, news agencies report.

Then called the CMA-CGM Normandie, the ship underwent major repairs in Vietnam before being renamed.

It was last inspected by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in May 2005.

"The Marine Conservation Society supports the work of the Salvage Response Unit in preventing a catastrophe," said Moore, the society's policy officer, "but [the society] questions whether the ship was in a condition safe to go to sea."

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