Thursday's storms in the Channel left the cargo ship with large gashes on both sides and, fearing the battered vessel would have broken apart and sunk, officials ordered tugs to beach it.

The 62,000-tonne ship was carrying 2,323 containers, 158 of which were classed as hazardous to transport, including industrial and agricultural chemicals. They were mostly stacked inside the vessel and away from the edges.

The 16-year-old container ship, 275 metres (900 feet) long, is lying in shallow water off Branscombe village, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of the city of Exeter.

Local coastguard chief Peter Pritchard told AFP that 103 containers had fallen off the ship into the sea, revised down from previous figures. Of those, 69 have been located.

Four containers which fell off have some materials deemed hazardous inside, including one with perfume, according to a spokesman for Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd, managers of the cargo ship. He said all four have been recovered.

Dozens of containers have washed up on the beach, with members of the public warned to stay away. That did not stop local scavengers grabbing whatever booty they could get their hands on.

Legally, scavengers are meant to fill in a form and send it to the official "receiver of the wreck" -- but it was unclear how many were going to bother with paperwork amid the scramble.

Cheerful opportunists made off with looted BMW motorbikes, while other intrepid beachcombers grabbed cosmetics, sports shoes, empty barrels, steering wheels and exhaust pipes. Dog food and Bibles have also been washed up.

But for the salvage experts, getting the heavy oil off the vessel was the top priority to remove the lingering risk of an environmental disaster.

The treacle-like oil has to be heated up, to let it run down lines into waiting vessels. Operations were also under way to clean up some of the 200 tonnes of less heavy fuel on board which has started to leak.

Zodiac Maritime said in a statement that work will begin Tuesday to transfer fuel from the beached vessel to another ship, Forth Fisher, which is due to arrive the same day.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said it had now confirmed that the oil came from the vessel's engine spaces at the time of beaching and that no fresh oil had been spotted in the water.

The sheen of used oils is now extending for about three miles (five kilometers) to four miles (6.5 kilometers) before dissipating, it said.

Listing at between 18 degrees to 25 degrees depending on the tide, according to the coastguard, the ship is lying in Lyme Bay, the coastline of which is a designated world heritage site. Oil and debris was moving eastwards.

No oil pollution has been detected on the shore, though some sea birds have been affected, Pritchard said earlier. Cargo debris has littered the beach.

Nearby river estuaries have protective booms deployed. A special tug ship with heavy-lifting and anti-pollution equipment was en route from northern France to help recover the ship's missing containers.

The London-registered cargo ship is owned by the Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company.

Zodiac Maritime said two barges would arrive on scene Thursday to remove the containers from the MSC Napoli.

A crane-equipped barge from Rotterdam, the Netherlands will lift off containers and place them on board the second barge, which will then land the containers at Portland in southern England. It said the vessel's main fuel tanks are intact.

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