Salvage, pollution or looting? The stranding of the Napoli's cargo

On January 2007, the MSC Napoli was stranded on the United Kingdom's south Devon coast, and due to its worldwide publicity, it exposed serious deficiencies in the relevant authorities' knowledge, understanding and enforcement of the law. The publicity though focused on alleged scenes of public disorder and plunder that accompanied the casting upon Branscombe Beach of 37 cargo containers from the vessel. Another issue relates to the "plunder" that happened there, especially regarding a perceived failure to prevent such conduct and to protect the proprietary rights of cargo owners, appears to have been made in ignorance of the prevailing legal regimes. A more pressing issue though is that of the uncoordinated legal regimes of merchant shipping law, criminal law and environmental law. Thus, each were operated in a way that makes a holistic and integrated approach difficult to achieve.