No control over Napoli 'for days'

Fifty of the ship's containers were washed ashore at Branscombe

No official took control of a situation which saw people taking goods out of containers from a grounded cargo ship "for a few days", an inquiry has said.

About 50 containers and their contents came ashore at Branscombe, east Devon, after the MSC Napoli was beached after suffering storm damage in January 2007.

People at the beach carried away items ranging from nappies to motorbikes.

Devon County Council inquiry chairman Ian Mercer said there was "confusion" over who should have been in charge.

'Relative mayhem'

Twenty-six crew members were forced to abandon ship when it got into difficulties and suffered hull damage about 50 miles (80km) off the Lizard in Cornwall on 18 January 2007.

It was damaged in a storm en route from Antwerp in Belgium to South Africa.

The 62,000-tonne container ship was then deliberately grounded off Sidmouth during attempts to tow it to Portland, Dorset, amid fears it could sink and cause a Channel pollution catastrophe.

But no-one took control of the situation on land "for a few days", said Professor Ian Mercer, who is chairing the inquiry in Exeter into the incident.

Professor Mercer said: "From what we have heard there was real confusion about what could be done and who was going to take the lead from the time it became obvious something was going to come ashore."

He said there may be an argument for producing a register of local powers which could be put into a priority order.

The inquiry has also been told by East Devon District Council chief executive Mark Williams that the response was "inadequate to the situation as it materialised".

He said: "That is why we had up to 48 hours of relative mayhem."

All but the 2,800-tonne aft section of the vessel has been salvaged in an operation which has cost about £50m. The operation has been suspended for the winter because of seasonal storms.

The inquiry continues.