The 62,000-tonne ship, which was holed in storms on 18 January 2007, was deliberately run aground off Sidmouth, Devon, following "serious structural failure". 50 of the containers on board the 62,000-tonne ship, which was holed in the storms of 18 January, were washed ashore.

The salvage operation in Devon has been taking several months.

Maritime experts believe structural damage to the Napoli caused it to start 'hogging'. The weakened hull causes a ship's bow and stern to sag. The effect is made worse by rough seas.

Two specialist crane barges sailed from the Netherlands to join the operation to salvage the remaining 2,394 containers.

A team of 20, including divers, worked round the clock to pump oil from the ship. The 200 tonnes of oil which had leaked into the sea was been treated. The divers put their lives at risk when they moved around the precariously positioned containers to find the best ways of getting them off.

Key fuel tanks and total contents were identified by the Marine Coastguard Agency on 23 January. Oil was being pumped off at a rate of about 30 tonnes per hour.

Royal Navy rescuers, who saved 26 men - including two British cadets - from a life-raft after they abandoned their ship, described the conditions they endured as "horrific". The men were rescued by RNAS Culdrose helicopters.

Giant waves rose higher than the helicopters as wind and spray lashed the rescuers and the sailors. The seamen were suffering extreme seasickness and hypothermia by the time they were hauled to safety.

The container ship sent out a distress call at about 1030 GMT on Thursday.

People gathered to watch the ongoing rescue operation in this photograph sent to BBC online by amateur R Watson.

The Napoli's containers were unloaded from the stern first by crane barge Big Foot. A second crane on Big Foot then transferred containers to shuttle barge Boa Barge 21, which in turn transferred them to Portland Harbour, where they were offloaded. Lightering vessel Forth Fisher is shown above, positioned on the other side of the ship and pumping off its remaining fuel oil.

Among the onlookers were photographers.

Hundreds of scavengers descended on the beach at Branscombe after the 50 containers washed ashore. Beachcombers looted goods including BMW motorbikes, wine, face cream and nappies. Legal powers not used for 100 years will be used to force people to return goods recovered from the stricken container ship.

Up to 10,000 seabirds are likely to have been caught in an oil slick from the ship, the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) said.

Many of the affected birds were likely to die.

MSC Napoli was refloated early in July but a diving survey found the wreck to be in a worse state than previously thought, with the crack of the hull being some three metres wide in places. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency deemed the vessel 'incapable of being towed'. Napoli was then rebeached at high tide in shallower waters to the north of where she was originally sitting.

Cutting charges were detonated on the deck of the vessel on July 17 1410 BST, to divide the ship into two pieces (see photo above). This was so as to make the ship easier to salvage.

Only the deck plates had been holding the Napoli together; it is these that were targeted by the explosives. All the charges detonated successfully and the deck plates separated, leaving just the vessel's longitudinal joists keeping the vessel in one piece. However, attempts afterwards to pull apart the two sections of the vessel with tug boats failed.

Crowds gathered on vantage points to watch the operation.

The second lot of explosions next day centred on the longitudinal joists on the vessel's starboard. They too failed.

Operations to break the hull of the MSC Napoli in two were finally successful on Friday, 20 July (see photo above).

There is still no final decision about the ship's fate. Now the vessel is in two pieces, the bow will be towed a distance out to sea and anchored, pending further decision.

POSTSCRIPT. Ships classified as Panamax are of the maximum dimensions that will fit through the locks of the Panama Canal.

This Panama Canal is a major ship canal that crosses the narrow strip of land linking Central and South America; it connects the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Panamax is important in the design of cargo ships, with many ships being built to exactly the maximum allowable size.

This photo shows how tightly ships (two of them here) are designed to fit through the locks on the Panama Canal.

After expansion, the Panama Canal is expected to be able to handle vessels up to 12000 TEU in size; currently, it can only handle vessels up to about 5000 TEUs. TEU stand for Twenty-foot Equivalent Units and is a measure of the capacity of a container.

The 20 foot container is the most common container worldwide, but the 40 foot container is increasingly replacing it, particularly since costs tend to be per container and not per foot.

MSC Napoli is the first Post-Panamax container vessel to be built.