ABSTRACT
The accident of the container ship MSC Napoli, which was beached off Devon, was enough to draw the attention of the public. The 62 000-tonne MSC Napoli, which was cracked* in storms on 18 January 2007, was deliberately run aground following hull failure. A charity has collected 988 birds in the wake of oil spills from the Napoli since its grounding.1 Politicians feared that such examples of substandard shipping would spoil the UK’s image.2 They ‘noted that the vessel also grounded in 2001, and the fact that the company has been blacklisted by the UK maritime unions’.3 They called on the government to urgently consult on measures to improve safety and working conditions on such vessels.
