Explosives blast grounded ship
Explosives have been used on a stricken container ship to try to split it in half so it can be removed from a World Heritage Coast.The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), working with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), used the precision explosive charges on the MSC Napoli which is grounded off Sidmouth, Devon,The Salvage Marine Operations unit of the MoD are helping with the operation to split the vessel, which is expected to take two days.Morgyn Davies, MoD Chief Salvage Officer, said: "The MCA has asked us to employ explosive cutting on the Napoli."The ship has a number of structural flaws that require strength members to be cut to release the hull into two parts."The idea is to operate explosives to cut in more of a surgical manner."A 1,000 metre exclusion zone was placed around the ship and police closed a number of footpaths around the beach prior to the cutting charges being detonated.Before they were detonated the vessel, which is half a mile out to sea, was split around her hull just forward of the accommodation block, and only her deck plates were holding her together.The MCA warned that residual oil could be released when the ship parted.
Last Monday the Napoli was floated from a position a mile offshore where she had rested on the seabed since January 20. The vessel was re-grounded on Thursday after divers found hull cracks up to 3m wide which would make it impossible to tow her.