A British container ship is sinking in the Channel 40 miles south of the Lizard in Cornwall.
All 26 crew of the MSC Napoli are abandoning ship and as yet there are no reports of injuries. Falmouth Coastguard is co-ordinating the rescue.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency tug, the Anglian Princess, plus a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose, are heading towards the vessel.
The French are also involved in the rescue effort.
Still don't know why you call a container ship A boat!!! all you can get in a boat is an owl and a pussy cat or grew and passengers when abandon ship is sounded. A Ship is a Ship and by no means a BOAT, sorry but I neede to correct that. phew, now thats done with
Latest on BBC News 24 ( 24hr satellite news feed ) is that the Napoli has sunk 40 miles south of the Lizard , Cornwall after she had been holed on one side. All 26 crew have abandoned ship and the Royal Navy has sent out 2 rescue helicopters from RNAS Culdrose along with the Coastguard Salvage Tug Anglian Princess. See HERE for the BBC online news story and updates.
A British container ship has sunk in the English Channel 40 to 50 miles (65 to 80km) off the Lizard in Cornwall.
All 26 crew of the MSC Napoli had abandoned ship and as yet there are no reports of injuries.
The 62,000-tonne vessel had taken in water from a hole in its side on the French side of the channel.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency tug, the Anglian Princess, plus two helicopters from RNAS Culdrose, are heading towards the vessel.
We are trying to get to these guys as soon as we can
Coastguard spokesman
French coastguards are co-ordinating the rescue.
The 275m (900ft) long ship is owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company, which said it was "dealing with an emergency".
As well as the hole on the vessel's side, the ship also suffered a flooded engine.
Two French helicopters and a tug have been sent to the scene.
The Napoli is carrying about 75 containers, but coastguards say they do not know what is in them.
'Dangerous cargo'
The European Maritime and Safety Agency says the vessel is listed as carrying "dangerous cargo". It is trying to obtain the vessel's manifest to clarify.
Coastguards said the weather on scene was south-westerly severe Gale Force 9 (more than 50mph), with 8m to 9m (26ft to 30ft) swells.
A spokesman said: "All 26 crew have abandoned to the lifeboat.
"We know there is a hole in one side of the ship and the engine room is flooded, but we do not know how that came about.
"We are obviously concerned about what is in the containers and if they pose a threat to the coastline."
The spokesman said: "We are trying to get to these guys as soon as we can. The helicopter cannot winch them up yet due to the condition of the seas.
"There are no communications with the lifeboat but they appear to all be on board. At the moment the lifeboat is heading north."
Latest information according to Tradewinds is that she has NOT sunk. She is abandoned, listing and drifting a a "fair speed". All crew members believed safe.
According to Bloomberg.com news of 1 hour ago.
26 crew from MSC Napoli are safe and have been winched to helicopter/s and taken to Cornwall. According to Fred Caygill of CG in live BBC broadcast.
Cannot find anything more at present
Hawkey01
Just watched the latest film from the rescue helicopters picking up the crew , it is a wild wild day i'm just glad they're all safely off the ship. BBC originally said she had sunk but now saying she's been abandoned.
Just 75 containers of "Dangerous" material guessing she would have hundreds if not thousands more onboard. Trust the press to get things wrong again !!
Aye, and from what I saw on the lunchtime news the press (BBC too) were far more interested in what may be in those 75 containers. The man from the MCA (on the telephone) had to bring up the men aboard.
I expected nothing less. Who cares about seamen today?
Not sure if that's supposed to comfort me Alex.
Red Duster aye, but out of a crew of 26 only 2 Brits, and they're both cadets!
It makes me cringe when they call her "a British ship".
Looking at photo 16 in that series is it just me or has she broken her back?? Look at the line of the aft deck up to the white stanchon below the bridge and then look forward from there , looks like two angles to me and thats where it looks like there is a gash in the hull running vertically up from the waterline.
Photo 24 shows a break in the hull. Looks to me too that she has broken her back in line with the forepart of the superstructure. A sad sight, I hate to see any ship like this, I hope they get her in.
Ahoy David Tate and Moaf, Many thanks for the links giving the details and photos of Napoli. I doubt if we will even get the news out here atall, on either radio [ABC] or TV. We do tend to miss quite a lot of real World News out here.
At the same time this was all evolving we had a ship with engine failure and a lost anchor off Cape Sable Island .
My son Alan ( New S N Member ) who was on leave was seconded to a tug ( One of 3 ) to attempt a rescue / tow .
One of the tugs was able to get a line on board and the vessel was secured and safley towed and berthed in Saint John New Brunswick at around 2 pm ( local time today )
Will try and get some pictures tomorrow if the snow / weather is not too bad .
The Vessel is a Suprtanker and is only the 2nd I know of to be allowed into Saint John . The previous one was the Texaco Tulsa which I was able to bring in for " afloat " propeller repairs some 15 years ago .
Only in extreme cir***stances does the Port Authority allow such big vessels into Saint John and is only possible if the vessel is in a ballast condition due to draft limitations .
I will get Alan to fill on the details to the extent he is able . He is now home having a good sleep as they were in poor conditions for about 4 days . Also his Birthday tomorrow so he is glad to be ashore tonight .
Derek
Around sixteen or seventeen years ago I was on a DP cable laying vessel called the 'Flexservice 3' working off Sable Island. What a fascinating place it is. Some of our surveyors lived on the island for a couple of weeks setting up and maintaining a reference (slyedis) station. They had a great time. They told stories of colonies of wild ponies, shifting sands uncovering wrecks. I would have loved to have been able to get on there but I never made it. We spent many a night in Saint John (the 'Split Crow' was our watering hole) and we dry docked in a naval or ex naval drydock for thruster repairs.
Ray Jordan
We have just seen the TV news and the weather looks very wild !
It also showed a very short clip of the vessel in trouble with a helicopter and lifeboat in view - Not good -excellent to see that the crew have all been rescued. It's terrible also the number of people ashore on both sides of the Channel who have lost their lives in the terrible conditions - hopefully things are improving.
Regards
Emmanuel
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