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“As Police realise they can no longer patrol the whole area, opportunists salvage BMW motorbikes from the shipping containers washed up on the beach at Branscombe, Devon following the beaching of the cargo ship MSC Napoli after it was holed during storms earlier in the week, 21st January 2007. The ship is carrying almost 2,400 containers, about 150 of which are said to hold hazardous chemical substances. The drifting vessel was being towed to Portland Harbour in Dorset for a salvage operation, but the Maritime and Coastguard Agency decided to beach it in Lyme Bay, near Sidmouth, instead, following the structural failure.”

“Ignoring health warnings and threats of prosecution, hundreds of people foraged among containers washed from a stricken cargo vessel on the southern English coast on Monday, hauling off booty that included BMW motorcycles, shoes, diapers, beauty cream and carpets.”

NYT