ABSTRACT
The accident of the container ship MSC Napoli, which was beached off Devon, was enough to draw the attention of the public. In 1972, COLREGs were adopted under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization to prevent shipping accidents. The chapter focuses on whether or not the international community could prevent a repeat of the incident. With regard to the actual reason for hull failure, it is also asserted that fatigue cracking may have caused the problem in that rather long ships flex more than many types of ship in a seaway and care needs to be taken with the weight distribution in the cargo holds and tanks to minimize stresses. The problems of the incident of the MSC Napoli have been discussed in conjunction with the shortcomings of the maritime actors. There are, in fact, ways in which shipping casualties such as the Napoli can be prevented.
