Marchioness disaster

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The Marchioness disaster occurred on the River Thames in London, England, on 20 August 1989, when the pleasure boat Marchioness sank after being run down by the dredger Bowbelle. The two boats collided under Cannon Street Railway Bridge. 51 of the 132 passengers on the Marchioness, who were attending a private birthday party, drowned.

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[edit] Victims

The party was organised to celebrate the 26th birthday of Antonio de Vasconcellos, who worked in a merchant bank. Of Portuguese family background, he had studied Economics at Cambridge University. Many of those at the party were also in their 20s; some were former student friends, and others working in the fashion industry. The dead included Francesca Dallaglio, older sister of future England national rugby union captain Lawrence Dallaglio; and the skipper of the Marchioness, Stephen Faldo, estranged father to reality TV star Jeff Brazier.

[edit] Collision

In the collision the anchor of the Bowbelle first cut through the side of the Marchioness. The Marchioness then rolled over and quickly filled with water while being pushed under by the Bowbelle. As the ship capsized the entire superstructure of the Marchioness became detached. The formal investigation puts the time from collision to complete immersion to close to 30 seconds. Witnesses quoted in the formal investigation describe the Bowbelle"hitting it [the Marchioness] in about its centre then mounted it, pushing it under the water like a toy boat." Of the deceased, 24 were recovered still in the wreck. The majority of the survivors had been on the upper decks at the time of the collision.[1]

[edit] Aftermath

The disaster was found by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch to have been caused by the poor visibility from each ship's wheelhouse, the fact that both vessels were using the centre of the river, and that no clear instructions were given to the look-out at the bow of the Bowbelle. The skipper of the Bowbelle, Douglas Henderson, was tried for failing to keep a proper look-out but after two juries were deadlocked he was formally acquitted. A Coroner's inquest on 7 April 1995 found the victims had been unlawfully killed. John Prescott as Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions ordered a judicial inquiry under Lord Justice Clarke on 18 August 1999. In 2001 an enquiry into the behaviour of Bowbelle captain Douglas Henderson concluded that he should be allowed to keep his master's certificate, despite having previously lied about his qualifications.[2]

Subsequently the Government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to work together to set up a dedicated Search and Rescue service for the tidal River Thames. Consequently, on the 2 January 2002, the RNLI set up four lifeboat stations at Gravesend, Tower Pier, Chiswick Pier and Teddington.

The Bowbelle was herself lost 7 years after the disaster. Having been sold to a Madeiran dredging company, she split in half and sank on 25 March 1996.

A memorial to the victims can be found in the nave of Southwark Cathedral, not far from the site of the disaster.

A drama about the events surrounding the disaster has been made by ITV Productions in association with Leeds-based Chameleon TV and was to have been broadcast on ITV1 in late 2007. However, speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival on 25 August 2007, former ITV Director of Drama Nick Elliot confirmed that the drama would not be shown "in its present form" though it has been shown on French TV. Some families of those killed in the disaster had previously asked ITV not to broadcast the programme,[3] although others thought it "crucial" that it be broadcast, "an excellent adaptation of the full horror of what happened."[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Formal investigation report
  2. ^ Bowbelle skipper keeps his licence. BBC News (3 December 2001). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  3. ^ "Marchioness families ask ITV to drop drama", The Daily Telegraph, 24 August 2004. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. 
  4. ^ "ITV axes 'insensitive' docu-drama", BBC News, 26 August 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. 

[edit] External links

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