[Trigirl]

Elsewhere on the forum the damage to and subsequent salvage operation on the container ship MSC Napoli was mentioned. Not wanting to worry anyone I'll say first this ship was NOT BOUND FOR AUS/NZ but was on its way to the Canaries then South Africa.

However, I wonder if anyone else whose container hasn't yet arrived views these images (from the BBC website) with the same level of horror I did!

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42477000/jpg/_42477147_containers_.jpg

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42477000/jpg/_42477143_containerrocks.jpg

[Pip]

You must have read my mind! With the shippers due four weeks today, those images were a little disconcerting...especially when I heard on the radio, that some people were heading down to where containers had washed ashore and were breaking into them and ransacking the contents.

Just really hoping that it was all commercial stuff and not a lifetime of someones prized and loved possessions.. :(

[Mr TW]

Its worth noting that the containers wouldn't be watertight enough to hold out water whilst floating to a beach! Anything in there would be beyond it anyway from a household contents perspective.

[The Hodges]

The article is on the BBC News website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6285699.stm) and the vessel is reported to contain 2,323 containers, 158 of which are classed as having potentially hazardous contents. Of the 200 that have gone overboard, one contained battery acid and perfumes, and one small gas bottles for car airbags. Others housed a variety of goods including BMW motorbikes and car parts.

As Pip says, I hope that they are not people's prized possessions (hopefully not judging by the article), I just hope that the salvagers know what they are doing.

I wonder if they had mould and mildew cover?

[Moorf]

Ewww, it's awful - watching BBC News and they're showing people scavenging on the beach and taking away stuff like motorcycles, wine and furniture that's washed up (the beach is LITTERED!) - why isn't anyone stopping them nicking all the stuff?

[ezza]

I notice that a car was inside one of the containers. Presumably privately-owned and of high value to the owner! Think that beach combers are now being threatened with legal action if they do take stuff. Fortunately this sort of thing doesn't happen too often but I can imagine how awful it would be if you thought your belongings were there.

[Mr TW]

Ewww, it's awful - watching BBC News and they're showing people scavenging on the beach and taking away stuff like motorcycles, wine and furniture that's washed up (the beach is LITTERED!) - why isn't anyone stopping them nicking all the stuff?

Its not nicking nor is it looting. As long as what you take is declared you can "salvage" what you like under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

Unfortuntely the BBC and other media are fond of using inaccurate terminology to describe things. The most common that gets my goat is "mini tornado".

[Caroline and Dave]

It would be very interesting to know as regards insurance.A lot of people will only insure their more valuable stuff. I know something like this rarely happens but it makes you wonder whether to insure the lot. In this type of case all the non valuable stuff would soon add up.

Dave and Caroline

[StevieD]

The thing about these modern ships is that the containers travel down on rails, so if you are unlucky and your "box" is a deck cargo, there is a fair old chance it can be lost.

It is amazing how many times we nearly hit floating containers and whole tree trunks when travelling at sea. Just one of those things unfortunately, the sea is an almighty force, as we have seen only too well in these last couple of years.

Shades of the film Whisky Galore :)

[UK Neil]

Unfortunately there are plenty of personal items washed up as you can see from these pics:

Just hope they were insured so they can at least replace the replaceable bits. Must be gutting to loose all the personal bits though.

Legally its salvage if its reasonable to think that goods will be further damaged by leaving them in situ by incoming and outgoing tides so the police are not trying to stop people taking stuff.

http://www.ianpain.co.uk/spgm/gal/napoli/MSC_Napoli05.jpg

http://www.ianpain.co.uk/spgm/gal/napoli/MSC_Napoli06.jpg

Here are some more:
http://www.ianpain.co.uk/spgm/index.php?spgmGal=napoli#?

[The Hodges]

Am I hoping, rather than expecting, the salvagers (shall we call them that) are only interested in high value goods, say cars, motor bikes etc. that they can sell on, rather than personal possessions (I know they may all be personal, but I am assuming high value items are replaceable, rather than low value sentimental items)?

I just hope that the sentimental items (at least) are reunited with their owners, as I wouldn't like that to happen to me. What goes around comes around, I say.

[Cardiff Irons]

I'll be honest, the amount we insured our stuff for I was rather hoping it might take a tumble whilst out at sea.

[Smiler]

They are supposed to declare it to the "Receiver of the wreck" and they have a month to do so. 10 police officer's handing out forms isn't going to do any good, they should close the beach.

In reality it's an enormous task to retrieve the goods and reclaim items from the looters, even if they have been declared, so the insurers would probably not bother and just pay out on claims.

Like some one on the news said, lets hope those people all come back and help clean up the oil and pollution on the coastline. :(

[Debbie P.]

There was something on the news this morning about a Swedish woman who identified some of her personal goods on the TV, which were being shipped to South Africa. :(

[willowshouse]

Just after we arrived here in NZ at the end of October while we were staying with friends there was a headline and photo in the NZ Herald showing a container which had 'blown' over in a strong wind. Our friend took great delight in holding out the phone casually holding the paper and saying, "It's the shippers on the phone, there's been a bit of a hitch!" Thankfully we were still too jet-lagged to react to it.

[wiki]

A Swedish woman watched TV footage of people taking stuff from her house-move container. It's not on the Beeb yet, so here is some work copy: - be warned, it's painful reading if you are thinking of shipping goods!

WOMAN SLAMS POLICE AFTER HOUSE-MOVE CRATE LOOTED
A woman whose personal possessions were looted from a crate washed up on a Devon beach today accused the police of doing too little to protect them.
Family heirlooms were among £130,000 worth of Anita Bokdal’s belongings being transported from Sweden to South Africa on the beached cargo ship MSC Napoli.
She was alerted to the problem after pictures showing the box - marked “Anita and Jan Bokdal, Cape Town” in marker pen - appeared in the media.
Mrs Bokdal said she and her husband - who have bought a wine farm in South Africa - were “in shock” that the crate had been emptied of its contents.
The Times quoted one man seen removing some of the items as saying: “We’ll take anything that’s worth money.
“There was a good quality tea set but unfortunately a couple of the cups got broken. I don’t feel bad. It’s only going back in the sea if we don’t take it.”
Mrs Bokdal said she hoped the items would be handed in.
“It’s terrible that they steal everything from us. I don’t know why anyone would take it and I do not really understand why the police weren’t there in the very beginning to stop this.
“If anyone opened this box they can definitely see this is a home container. This is not barrels or anything.”
She said the crate contained furniture, carpets, many personal items and clothes gathered to give to poor communities in South Africa.
“We have brought a lot of things... from our mothers and fathers which you can’t get back. If they have taken it, it has gone and it hurts our hearts very much.
“The embroideries and paintings my father-in-law has made. It’s terrible if we don’t get it back,” she said.
Mr Bokdal told The Times: “We didn’t have that much insurance. We’ve lost paintings, carpets, a smoking table which belonged to my mother.
“We had bought lots of new sports equipment and clothes, some of which we were going to give to the poor here in Cape Town. My wife and I fill boxes and go door to door.”
The Acting Receiver of Wreck, Mark Rodaway, said today: “There was every effort made in the early stages to secure the site and clearly there is a heavy resource implication both for the Coastguard and the police forces involved.
“But the numbers that actually turned out on to the beach were unexpected.”
He urged anyone who had taken personal items from the beach to return them as soon as possible.
end

[Ana&Steve]

That is really sad. :( I think what bothers me most about this accident (I've read several stories on it) is the sense of entitlement the looters/salvager's have. It really upsets me that they are basically saying "finder keepers" on the whole thing, when the people who own the items obviously want them back, and never meant to lose them in the first place. The law seems awfully vauge on the whole thing, and I can't help but to think of the scavengers as vultures, even the ones doing it by the book.
Ana

[The Hodges]

Ana :clap :clap :clap , I couldn't agree with you more, well said.

The sense of community seems to have gone, in helping others and not helping yourself, and according to latest article on the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6290887.stm) the police claim the majority of offenders are organised gangs.

According to the article, the owners do have the right to claim their goods - I just hope that they do so. I just hope that the scavengers realise what they've done and return the items that belong to someone else. We shall see...

[Moorf]

That is really sad. :( I think what bothers me most about this accident (I've read several stories on it) is the sense of entitlement the looters/salvager's have. It really upsets me that they are basically saying "finder keepers" on the whole thing, when the people who own the items obviously want them back, and never meant to lose them in the first place. The law seems awfully vauge on the whole thing, and I can't help but to think of the scavengers as vultures, even the ones doing it by the book.
Ana

Makes me really uncomfortable too, law or no law, I thought the scenes of people walking along the beach with shopping bags was... I dunno... desperate. As someone said above - funny they all can't make the same trip to clear up the oil and dead birds when accidents like this happen. :(

To be honest, my first reaction would have been to help salvage for others, not myself.

[jubjub]

That poor woman seeing her stuff being raided in the media...

I saw an article yesterday which showed some of the ebay listings that people have put up selling on what they had "stolen" off the beach. :( some people just cant resist a quick buck I guess, its very sad.

[veronica]

Everything on the beach is still owned by the people who shipped it, so while avoiding the emotive term stealing, or nicking, it is illegal for people to keep the stuff past the month and it has to be declared that they have it. If they have it and are selling it or intending to keep it then they are open to being prosecuted, rightly so in my opinion.

[Smiler]

That poor woman seeing her stuff being raided in the media...

I saw an article yesterday which showed some of the ebay listings that people have put up selling on what they had "stolen" off the beach. :( some people just cant resist a quick buck I guess, its very sad.

Sal, eBay for once have been extremely pro-active in pulling listings from the Napoli. One guy had listed steering wheel airbags and nappies and they were pulled within an hour. :nice1

Mind you the poor guy that listed a shell from the beach has done so three times, but his 89 Q &A's made me giggle.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-Shell-Branscombe-Beach-MSC-NAPOLI-Shipwreck_W0QQitemZ320075014940QQihZ011QQcategoryZ 159QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

One nearby farmer was charging people 50 quid to haul the BMW bikes off the stones. How could they ever register those bikes any way, how useless is that?

On a more serious note, I felt ill looking at some of those people thieving on the beach and it seems like the place wasn't closed down quickly enough. Although we joked about our container falling over the side and replacing everything with the insurance payout, in reality I would have been devastated to lose personal sentimental things, let alone have it paraded on the news. :(

[Ana&Steve]

On a more serious note, I felt ill looking at some of those people thieving on the beach and it seems like the place wasn't closed down quickly enough. Although we joked about our container falling over the side and replacing everything with the insurance payout, in reality I would have been devastated to lose personal sentimental things, let alone have it paraded on the news. :(
I agree! :(
Mind you the poor guy that listed a shell from the beach has done so three times, but his 89 Q &A's made me giggle.
That was very silly! Sounds like the guy has a heart, and is trying to find humor in a cr@ppy situation. :)
Ana

[Smiler]

I agree! :(

That was very silly! Sounds like the guy has a heart, and is trying to find humor in a cr@ppy situation. :)
Ana


Yes he often does stuff like this on eBay to raise money for the RSPCB or RSPCA, I forget which. He auctioned a piece of toast a while ago, sold the thing and got donations to the charity too. I like the claim form on this auction, made me laugh too. ;)

[The Hodges]

http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/signs141.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org) (couldn't resist it) eBay have now removed the listing, but no doubt it will pop up again. Bless them. :roll