On Sunday, the 62,000-ton MSC Napoli was intentionally run aground near the East Devon Coast -- a World Heritage site -- to avoid sinking. An estimated 200 tons of oil from the ship's tanks immediately began entering the water, as did up to 200 of the ship's 2400 cargo containers, some of which carried hazardous materials such as battery acid and perfume. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has said the leak, which has spread up to five miles from the vessel, is believed to be coming from waste oils in the flooded engine spaces but does not pose a major environmental threat. Salvage teams are hoping to pump out the remaining 3,000 tons of oil in the ship's tanks.

Although the Maritime and Coastguard Agency warned the public to stay away from any containers they see because of their potentially toxic contents, hundreds of beach-combers have plundered goods that have washed ashore. Apparently, many of the stolen items have already started to appear on eBay. For example, steering wheel airbags advertised as coming "from the MSC Napoli" were on offer. (Caveat: I couldn't find these items, though I did find some genuine MSC Napoli sand.)

The operation to salvage the vessel has now started and the ship may be towed to Lyme Bay. For some pretty amazing images of the wreck, check out the BBC for a photo gallery. It'll be interesting to see what kind of environmental damage this ultimately causes.