THE final stage of a £50 million salvage operation to remove the wreck MSC Napoli fromn Lyme Bay is under way.

The 62,000-tonne container ship MSC Napoli was deliberately grounded in January 2007 after being damaged in a storm.

Since then parts of the vessel were cut up and taken away and now work has started to remove the final section.

Earlier this year the salvor Global Response Maritime positioned 12 chains under the wreck and now two barges will lift the remaining hull section to the surface for demolition and recycling.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said today that it is anticipated that the wreck will be removed from the site by the end of August.

Hugh Shaw, Secretary of State Representative in Maritime Salvage and Intervention said: “Weather permitting, a test lift may take place on Tuesday or Wednesday. If successful, lifting and cutting will then commence.”

The Napoli was en-route from Antwerp to South Africa, with 2,400 containers on board, when its hull was cracked during a storm off the Lizard, Cornwall.

Its 26-strong crew were airlifted to safety by Royal Navy helicopters and the decision was made to ground the ship to try to prevent damage to the Jurassic coast, a world heritage site.

Debris and the contents of the containers washed up all along the Dorset coast, with thousands of scavengers flocking to the beaches.