On 19 January 2007, the ship Napoli was taken under tow by the salvage tug Abeille Bourbon, later joined by Abeille Liberté. The vessel was to be towed to Portland Harbour in Dorset, 140 miles (230 km) distant; Adrian Sanders, MP for the parliamentary constituency of Torbay raised questions about why Napoli was not taken to Falmouth or France.
The flotilla proceeded up the English Channel; with Napoli increasing its list and with strong winds forecast refuge was taken in Lyme Bay. After containers from the wreck began washing up at Branscombe, around two hundred people went onto the beach to scavenge the flotsam. Scavenged goods included 17 BMW motorcycles, empty wine casks, nappies, perfume, and car parts. After initially tolerating a "salvage" free-for-all, by 23 January 2007 the police branded the activity of scavengers "despicable" and closed the beach. Salvagers who had reported their finds to the Receiver of Wreck were told they could keep what they had found.
