Crew rescued after abandoning ship in Channel

LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) British and French rescue services winched 26 crew to safety today after they were forced to abandon a container ship carrying hazardous cargo when it began taking on water in stormy seas in the Channel.

The British-flagged MSC Napoli was on the French side of the Channel when it became holed on the starboard side forcing the crew to abandon the ship and take to a lifeboat, the British coastguard said.

French and British helicopters and tugs were sent to the scene 80 km southeast of southwestern England's Cornwall coast where storm force waves have whipped up 9-metre waves.

The crew were winched to safety by Royal Naval helicopters after a two-hour rescue operation and flown to Britain.

''It's quite a situation out there, severe gale force 9 and a 9 metre swell,'' a coastguard spokesman said earlier. ''I think the Royal Navy winch guys and pilot are being tested to the limit.'' The Napoli was damaged and had lost power but was still afloat, the coastguard said.

The managers of the container ship, London-based Zodiac Maritime Agencies, said the Napoli was carrying hazardous cargo.

But Mark Rawson, safety manager at Zodiac, said they were not immediately able to say what the hazardous cargo was because the manifest was 100-pages long.

In the maritime sector there are 9 categories of hazardous materials from fertilizer through to chemicals and explosives.

''But there are no explosives on board,'' he told Reuters.

Winds of up to 160 kph battered much of Britain today, causing three deaths, bringing transport havoc and damaging buildings.

More than 100 European and domestic flights at London's Heathrow airport were cancelled and 25,000 homes across southern England were without electricity after gales brought down power lines.

REUTERS LL BST0046