There were 131 people on board when the pleasure boat sank on 20 August 1989, Shaun Lockwood Croft's mother said she was holding on to 'all the memories'. Thats when my energy gave up. The Bowbelle itself was sold to a Portuguese company shortly after the tragedy and renamed the Bom Rei in 1990. Lists of victims of crimes. The names of the 51 people who lost their lives will be read out in a memorial service at Southwark Cathedral on Tuesday, August 20. Some of the things they alleged were just awful. On the night of her sinking, she also carried two members of bar staff. The pair were good friends and business partners in a photographic agency. conducted the public inquiry into the Identification of Victims Following Major Transport Accidents. On 20 August 1989, 131 people were on board the Marchioness when it was hit by the dredger Bowbelle, Coroner Dr Paul Knapman decided to cut the hands off more than 20 victims for identification purposes, A public inquiry in 2000 said poor lookouts on both vessels were responsible for the collision, The captain of the Bowbelle, Douglas Henderson, had drunk six pints of lager on afternoon of the accident, The Metropolitan Police were "ill-prepared" and had no contingency plan for such an event, the inquiry found, January 2002, Royal National Lifeboat Institution introduces four lifeboat stations on the River Thames. They thought I was dead. 2023 BBC. "He was born on the same day as me. [125] Under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, damages were only paid to certain categories of people, and were based on the economic loss to the victim. [18] Bowbelle had a crew of nine: a master, two mates, three engineers, two able seamen and a cook. Post mortems were carried out on . [63], Less than half an hour after Marchioness was hit, a major incident was declared with an incident room at New Scotland Yard. Ms Wellington said she found it hard initially to accept her son was dead. I put my head down in to the water and we were pretty much nose to nose and I knew it was Tony. Through the Marchioness Action Group, Lockwood Croft led a campaign for improved safety standards on the Thames that eventually led to lifeboat services and other safety features being introduced on the river. Relatives of the victims of The Marchioness disaster watch as floral tributes are placed in the River Thames on August 20, 2009 in London, England.. [29][36] Bowbelle's average speed was about 5.5 knots (6.3mph; 10.2km/h) over the ground. Some of the victims' families requested that the programme should not be broadcast, although some thought it positive that it was going to be shown. In 1991 a report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch into the disaster said poor lookouts on both vessels was the immediate cause of the tragedy. Yet another awesome website by Phlox theme. When Bowbelle was within 160 feet (50m) of Marchioness, the smaller vessel was affected by the forces of interactionthe water being pushed ahead of the large ship. The families tried to apply for a judicial review on the basis that "the use of the word 'unhinged' and reference to a number of 'mentally unwell' relatives betrayed an attitude of hostility, however unconscious, towards members of the Marchioness Action Group". [78] Clarke's recommendations to examine the coroner system were a major factor in the overhaul of the system that resulted in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. An inquiry into the disaster ordered historic vessels on tidal rivers be brought up to modern safety standards. Small wonder then that few will have heard of the Princess Alice disaster of 3 September 1878, similar in many ways to the Marchioness affair, but with over 12 times the number of casualties. His memories of August 20 1989, when a boat packed with 130 partygoers was struck by a vast dredger and crushed, is still as vivid as if it was yesterday. Photograph: Tony Harris/PA, 'I felt like it was time to let go. Tonight - Monday - relatives and survivors will throw roses in the Thames in an emotional vigil. [31] It was a spring tide, recorded as one of the highest of the year and the river was at half-tide at the time of the collision; it was running upriver at a rate of three knots. Of the 130 people on board Marchioness, 79 survived and 51 died. Andrew will mark the 30th anniversary in private with his wife at their home in Seville, Spain. One family was shown the body of the wrong person, then given the right body, but without the hands; these were sent on later with apologies, and a request not to tell other parents about the need to remove them as this was a 'one-off' mistake. More than 250 people filled St . [80], The MAIB issued an interim report towards the end of August, with recommendations as to increasing safety on the Thames. Four years later she was sold to Antonio Pereira & Filhos of Funchal, Madeira, who named the vessel Bom Rei. [43] The upper superstructure of Marchioness was ripped off by Bowbelle's anchor. In summing up, Burton instructed the coroner's jury that a verdict of unlawful killing could not be applied to anyone who had already been cleared by a court. [f] No-one on Bowbelle was injured. The pleasure steamer Marchioness sank after being hit twice by the dredger Bowbelle at about 1:46am, between Cannon Street railway bridge and Southwark Bridge. 20 years since Marchioness disaster. Her crew did not deploy the ship's lifebuoys, flotation devices or lifeboat and she did not take part in the attempts to rescue survivors. On the day following the collision Paul Knapman, the coroner for the City of Westminster, opened and adjourned the inquest into the deaths. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. The names of the dead had also been read out at a lunchtime service in the cathedral, during which Judy Wellington, whose son Simon, 20, died on the Marchioness, gave a Bible reading. Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Whiskey fungus forces Jack Daniels to stop construction, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, India PM Modi urges G20 to overcome divisions, Aboriginal spears taken in 1770 to return to Sydney, Argentina's power largely restored after fire. He and his girlfriend were among the many twenty-somethings who had been invited to the party organised for banker Antonio de Vasconcellos' 26th birthday. For the survivors and grieving families of the 51 victims, the horror and injustice was only just beginning, writes . He told the Mirror: It still feels inconceivable that somebody can be at the helm of a boat like that in the middle of London, drunk. [2] She was 85.5ft (26.1m) long and 14.5ft (4.4m) at the beam, and measured 46.19 gross tons. [98][99] The case was dismissed after the magistrate stated that there was insufficient evidence.[100]. These include the King's Cross fire, Lockerbie air crash, Hillsborough football stadium crush, Marchioness riverboat sinking, Southall and Ladbroke Grove train crashes, 11 September attacks, South East Asian Tsunami, the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the Sharm El Sheikh and other . 2023 BBC. And thats where we stayed. [111] When questioned about the MAIB report, Captain James de Coverleyone of the report's authorswithdrew the suggestion that Marchioness had steered to port in the last moments before the crash, saying it had never been his intention that the text could be understood that way. I could see the tops of propellors going round distinctly on the water - it was really banging and clunking not the water as it passed by. She proudly lists just some of the achievements of the group's campaigning: the introduction of lifeboats on the River Thames in 2001, new laws on being in charge of vessels under the influence of alcohol, and training for police family liaison officers. The MCA picked up on something that had been raised during the Clarke inquiry: that Henderson had forged certificates and testimonials of his service from 19851986. That aspect - that people thought everybody was so privileged - was probably the most hurtful thing you could imagine. Among those. "He was born on the same day as me. I managed to kick off from the bow. Phang paid 695 to hire the boat from 1:00am to 6:00am, with extra for the hire of the disco, food and drinks. Crowding around a flower-strewn, candle-lit memorial stone at Southwark Cathedral in south London, the families and some survivors heard the names read out of all 51 young people who died in the tragedy. Looking upstream to Cannon St railway bridge, scene of the disaster The Marchioness disaster occurred on the River Thames in London in the early hours of 20 August 1989. After the hearings, it emerged that tissue samples taken from four of the Marchioness victims had been found 11 years later in Westminster mortuary. "We were floating around not too far off the Southbank centre near the National Theatre, and thats when I basically started to lose consciousness. [44] The lower saloon was quickly flooded and the lights went out. The disaster inquiry in London heard on Friday that the severed hands of Elsa Garcia were found four years after the tragedy on the River Thames in August 1989. [42] At about 1:46am, just after Marchioness passed under Southwark Bridge, she was hit twice by Bowbelle's bow. dead were also read out at a. But he was obviously caught on the front of the boat and he was dragged away from me. A total of 51 people were killed when the Marchioness was involved in a collision with with the gravel dredger, the Bowbelle in August . They were very hurtful and they made us feel really, really bad inside. In accordance with the usual procedure, TNS radioed all river traffic at 1:15am and 1:45am, advising them of Bowbelle's downstream passage. In his oral . This was later criticised by Brian Toft, a disaster and risk-management expert commissioned by the Marchioness Action Group (MAG), as being unsatisfactory. Mr Senior modelled for ID magazine, lived with his girlfriend on west London's trendy King's Road and played bass guitar in a band. . Fifty-one people died when the pleasure boat sank after colliding with the dredger Bowbelle on the River Thames. Some of the families had to come to terms with the controversial decision by Westminster Coroner Dr Paul Knapman to cut off the hands of more than 20 of the victims for identification purposes - an action criticised by Lord Justice Clarke in his subsequent 2001 report into the circumstances surrounding the collision. [37][d], Marchioness was supposed to leave Embankment Pier at 1:00am, but was delayed until 1:25am. He said: I think I cried for about three days after the dive. Neither vessel saw the other in time to take action to avoid the collision. He had begun working on the Thames at the age of 17 and had earned his full waterman's river licence in June 1984. 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