The Express & Echo chartered a fishing boat to get a closer at the stricken MSC Napoli and the East Devon coastline, taking film of the wreck to broadcast on its website.

Reporter Alice Klein took to the sea to observe the 62,000 tonne vessel and her massive cargo beached off the coast at Branscombe.

Readers can see her video report by clicking here:

MSC Napoli is about a mile off the Branscombe shore, but police closed roads and a 500m exclusion zone around the cargo ship means Beer beach provided the best access.

Alice said: “As we encircled the buoys indicating the 500m exclusion zone, the ship looked dangerously close to sinking and it is amazing that more containers haven’t slipped off.

“Of those which have made their way to shore, very little is left.

“As our boat worked its way along the shoreline, back to Beer, looters on the beach were still visible. So were the police, sent in to give them forms to declare their booty.”

The Echo has also been publishing advice for people who are offered looted goods, information on the law surrounding shipwrecks and information on travel in the affected area.

There is also more video news on the Napoli’s plight and how it’s affecting locals:

The Echo has today launched a new web page devoted to Branscombe and the Napoli disaster.

Editor Marc Astley said: “This is a massive story and one that will run and run long after the national media loses interest. It is our intention to provide a platform for Branscombe that will be accessible to the world.”

Branscombe residents have been lined up to write regular blogs for the site, detailing how life has changed in their community.

And there will be a forum for people to post their views on what is going on — on topics from scavengers to oil-covered birds.

Sister paper the Western Morning News has been focusing on the story all week, and has set up a dedicated section on its own website, thisisdevon.

Reporter Peter Harrison was one of the team sent to see the events for himself.

He wrote: “It looked like a macabre scene from the science fiction thriller Mad Max.

“Fires could be seen right along the beach in the early hours … as people picked their way through the sodden remains of cardboard packaging like a post-apocalyptic scene.”