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.
