Was the Napoli an accident waiting to happen?

The stricken Napoli. Photo - Getty Images

Napoli

It's two weeks since the stricken Napoli was abandoned by her crew and grounded in Lyme Bay.

It was a storm which triggered the disaster, but was the Napoli seaworthy in the first place?

Talking to the experts, Inside Out asks whether this accident could have been prevented.

Severe storm

On January 18, 2007, 26 crewmen were rescued in a severe gale off the South West coast of England as the hull of the 62,000 tonne Napoli threatened to rip apart.

Abandoning ship is not something you do lightly - the captain must have thought that his boat was going to break in half.

This raises serious questions about if the vessel was seaworthy and how she was managed.

Stranded at sea - The Napoli. Photo - PA Images

The Napoli is managed by Zodiac Maritime Agency which is based in London and has more than 130 ships.

Inside Out has discovered that several unions have had major concerns about Zodiac Maritime and their record on safety and staff welfare.

Another of Zodiac Maritime's boats, the Hyundai Dominion, was also involved in an accident in June 2004.

Investigators found that in the two days before the accident, the watchkeeper had worked excessive hours, correct procedures were not followed and communication between the crew was a problem.

The unions also have concerns about the standards of the boat owned by the company.

In addition Mark Dickinson from Nautilius UK says that Zodiac's tankers are older than the UK average.

Major repairs

So was the Napoli unsound?

The ship had undergone major repairs after it was beached back in 2001.

Containers from the Napoli litter the beach at Branscombe. Photo - PA Images

It took four months to rebuild her, using more than 3,000 tons of steel.

The insurance companies of the content of the containers have already engaged a solicitor's firm because they are concerned that the Napoli was not seaworthy.

Container ships such as the Napoli are complicated pieces of engineering which, once at sea, are put to considerable forces.

'Hogging' is thought to have contributed to the Napoli incident - the ship virtually buckled in two.

Blacklisted company

But when it comes to seaworthiness, there are further considerations.

We also discovered that Zodiac used to be blacklisted as one of the worst companies by the International Transporters' Trade Federation, the ITF, a global union.

Shipping unions are also concerned about ships that fly so-called flags of convenience, also know as FOC.

A boat can be considered a FOC when the owners of a ship is of different nationality that the flag it is flying.

The Napoli sailed under Britain's red ensign, but the company that chartered her is based overseas.

Falling standards?

In 2000 the British government introduced new measures to try to revive the British shipping industry and get more ships to register in the UK.

Beautiful beach littered with The Napoli's containers. Photo - Getty Images

The tonnage tax and other incentives offered by the government have given a second life to the British merchant navy.

In response, the government has said that the UK register is recognised as having one of the highest standards in the world, and that attracting ships to it is part of the government's policy to rid the industry of sub-standard vessels.

They added that describing the UK register as a flag of convenience is a contradiction in terms.

But some people are still concerned that the standards on UK registered ships have dropped.

We asked Zodiac about the standards on the Napoli but they declined to take part in this film.

It is too early to know what caused the incident and we will need to wait for the investigation to get some answers.

But one thing is sure - people in the South West of England are left with the wreck of their beautiful coast which will take months, if not years, to be dealt with.

Links relating to this story:

• BBC News - The Napoli
• BBC Dorset - The Napoli
• BBC Devon - The Napoli
• Geocities - Napoli
• RMT
• MSC

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites

Follow the Rhino birth!

Rhino - watch this space for news of her baby!

BBC South West is breaking new ground and giving you the opportunity to witness a black Rhino birth.

Watch the BBC Devon Rhino web cam

This is the first time that a Rhino birth has ever been filmed and we've dug out the Springwatch cameras and installed them at Paignton Zoo to bring this amazing event direct to your home.

Sita, the pregnant Rhino, is being filmed 24 hours a day in anticipation of the big day.

Zoo keepers are watching her closely as this is the first time a Rhino calf has been born at the Zoo.

You can watch the action on the web and tune in to Inside Out to get the whole story.

Fact File

* Black Rhino are critically endangered. There are now thought to be less than 3,100 black Rhino living in the wild in East and Southern Africa.

* Rhinos can live for up to 45 years in zoos.

* Paignton Zoo supports practical Rhino conservation work in Zimbabwe and Malawi. Conservation work in Zoos is also playing a key role in the survival of the species.

* The parents-to-be are Kingo and Sita.

* Kingo (male) is 23-years- old and has already fathered four calves. He weighs in at 1.8 tonnes and came to Paignton Zoo in 2003 from Port Lympe Zoo in Kent.

* Sita is 16 years old, weighs 1.3 tonnes and is a first time mum. She came from Berlin Zoo in 2002. Sita will stay with her calf until it is able to look after itself but black rhinos are solitary animals so Kingo lives in an adjacent paddock.

* Kingo and Sita are part of the coordinated European Endangered species Programme (EEP) for black rhino.

* If all goes well this will be the first black rhino to be born at Paignton Zoo. At birth the calf could weigh around 40kg.

* The cameras being used were first developed for the Channel 4 series Big Brother and have since been used for the BBC's Springwatch and Autumnwatch series. They can pan and tilt at 360 degrees, and use infra red to film in the dark so whatever happens we won't miss a thing.

Watch the webcam

Watch all the action from Sita's paddock on the BBC Devon webcam.

You might even see her giving birth!

Links relating to this story:

• BBC Devon Web cam and Rhino feature
• Paignton Zoo

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites