THE beached container ship MSC Napoli was being refloated today.

Debris and oil from the ship, which beached on the Devon coast in January in rough seas, caused ecological damage to wildlife along the Dorset coast.

Coastguards have now decided to move the stricken ship to a holding position off Branscombe to prevent further deterioration to its structure and the surrounding environment.

The Secretary of State's representative in maritime salvage and intervention, Robin Middleton, ordered crews to move the ship after reviewing its condition and the weather in Lyme Bay.

The vessel will be held off Branscombe to await a decision on its future.

Mr Middleton said: "There will come a time when the MSC Napoli could not be refloated due to the ravages of wind, weather and time, hence our decision at this time.

"We intend to hold the vessel off the beach pending a final decision as to its disposal.

"This has to be viewed as a holding measure to understand the remaining structural integrity of the vessel."

Experts say fair weather for about three days is needed to refloat the ship.

It is estimated it will take about six hours for pumps to remove 58,000 tons of water from the vessel.

Other vessels that will help refloat the ship include a 'Big Foot' barge with winches and cranes, a tug, a salvage and anti-pollution vessel named Union Beaver, the workboats Smit Bever and Multra Salvor, the crewboat Channel Chieftain and a dedicated steering tug.

The workboats will be equipped with anti-pollution gear and coastguards will survey the refloat from an aircraft.

The pump and dive and salvage teams will work 24 hours a day during the operation and a dive survey vessel will also be on the scene.

Following a successful refloat, salvage divers will conduct a general survey below the waterline.

The results of the survey will be used by naval architects to establish the ship's remaining strength in key areas.

Marine Accident Investigation Branch inspectors have been invited on board the dive survey vessel to view the survey as it takes place.

There will be a restricted flying zone in place during the refloating operation and a temporary exclusion zone has been increased to 1,000 metres around the vessel.