British container ship sheds cargo and oil

The container ship beached off the English coast is shedding cargo and leaking oil. It has lost nearly 160 of the 2,400 containers on board and there has been a leak from a ruptured tank. The vessel, the MSC Napoli, was deliberately run aground close to Sidmouth in southern England on Saturday after it was damaged during a storm on Thursday.

Two of the containers swept overboard contain potentially dangerous materials – perfume, battery acid and car parts.

The ship was beached to stop it sinking but is coming afloat at high tide and could still capsize.

It’s a race against time and the weather – the aim is to pump fuel out of the tanks to prevent further pollution and to position floating cranes and flat-bottomed barges to offload the containers.

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