[85] When Knapman re-opened the inquest on 23 April 1990, he was critical of the DPP for taking eight months to decide on whether to bring criminal charges against anyone, which meant that a full inquest could not take place in case it prejudiced any future trial. "[1] The underlying causes on why neither vessel saw the other were that Henderson did not ensure a proper lookout on Bowbelle; that Blayney the lookout was not equipped with suitable radio equipment to inform his captain; that Faldo had not set up a lookout system on Marchioness, nor did he keep a lookout aft himself. Andrew, then 28, was working as a graphic designer in the music business and was at home with the summer flu before his friend Chris convinced him to leave his sick-bed and join the festivities. Bowbelle was one of six "Bow" ships owned by East Coast Aggregates Limited; they were managed by South Coast Shipping Company Limited. 5.5 knots over the ground, against a tide of 3 knots (3.5mph; 5.6km/h), equates to a speed of 8.5 knots (9.8mph; 15.7km/h) through the water. [11] Faldo was 29 at the time of the sinking. "He was creative, artistic and had an amazing sense of humour," says his mother Judy Wellington. Read about our approach to external linking. The. THE Marchioness disaster took place in the early hours of 20 August 1989, but is still remembered to this day. [66], A Port of London (PLA) hydrographic surveyor located the wreckage of Marchioness and, during the late afternoon of 20 August, work began on lifting the vessel. Richard Hall, a passenger on another pleasure boat, the Hurlingham, who helped rescue people from the struck vessel also attended the service. "We were floating around not too far off the Southbank centre near the National Theatre, and thats when I basically started to lose consciousness. visibility from the wheelhouse of each vessel was seriously restricted; whether there is a case for a further investigation or inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the MARCHIONESS disaster and its causes on 20th August 1989. Marchioness would then travel down to Greenwich before returning again to Charing Cross, arriving back at 5:45am. An inquest into the disaster returned a verdict of unlawful killing, but in July 1996 the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to justify any further criminal proceedings. The late night party cruise was organised for the birthday of a wealthy 26-year-old banker Antonio de Vasconcellos, who had invited friends including a string of rising stars in fashion, photography and finance. [87], On 26 April the DPP stepped in to stop the inquest, stating that charges would now be brought against Henderson. These included a requirement that vessels over 130ft (40m) had to have a forward lookout in contact with the bridge by radio, and tighter controls on the passage of vessels along the upper Thames. 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[129], In 2001 the Royal Humane Society made nineteen bravery awards to people involved in rescuing the victims of the collision, many of whom were passengers on Hurlingham. Many of those from Marchioness were swept into driftwood collection cages, and Hurlingham picked up several survivorsthe passengers climbing out onto the cages to help people out of the water. [83], That December, Knapman met the DPP to discuss the progress of the inquests. [26], Marchioness was hired for a party for the night of 1920 August 1989. RM J4F0TW - Lady Maud Evelyn Hamilton Marchioness of Lansdowne by Cowell Simla India RM F1D638 - Anthony Van Dyck - Policena Spinola, Marchioness of Legans RM G3BG2Y - CAMELLIA - MARCHIONESS RM G9NMD4 - Lord Cecil Manners - Royal Ascot. said the public were less sympathetic towards the victims compared with other disasters . And thats where we stayed. 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. "I couldn't eat or sleep and when I did sleep, I'd wake up and that feeling of pain would come back inside of me. That night, 51 people lost their lives in the waters of the River . [122], English law provides no compensation for fatal accidents, other than for funeral expenses, unless financial dependency at the time of death can be proved. On a hot, late-summer evening in 1989, the Marchioness pleasure boat, packed with more than 130 partygoers, collided with the dredger Bowbelle and sank in the River Thames, killing 51 people. Although the Marchioness disaster led to inquests and prosecutions, only a private inquiry was originally held, under the auspices of the then newly formed Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB 1991). [16][139][140], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}513032N 00537W / 51.5088N 0.0936W / 51.5088; -0.0936. The vessel then dropped all passengers and 28 survivors at the nearby Waterloo Police Pier (now Tower Lifeboat Station) before it took members of the emergency services back out to the collision site. [80], The MAIB issued an interim report towards the end of August, with recommendations as to increasing safety on the Thames. On top of that Tony - I didnt know where he was - then he grabbed hold of my legs underwater. Yet another awesome website by Phlox theme. More than 130 partygoers were on board the Marchioness pleasure boat on the evening of 20 August, 1989, Twenty-year-old model Simon Senior was among those who died in the disaster, The Marchioness collided with the dredger Bowbelle and sank in the River Thames in central London, A total of 51 people were killed in the tragedy, After the Marchioness collided with the 880-tonne dredger, it sank within minutes. [c] Much of the evidence gathered in later investigations was inconsistent and any descriptions of the actions of the ships are based on average speeds and likely positions. I had to help my girlfriend to keep her afloat. . [51] Survival of those on Marchioness depended partly on their location within the vessel. [75] Families of the victims later complained that they were not told in a timely fashion that bodies had been recovered, that some were denied access to view the bodies of their relatives,[h] and were not told of the processes that would be usedincluding that the hands would be removed. His senior in the department, the Secretary of State for Transport Cecil Parkinson, also returned home early in response. Only 79 people made it out of the Thames alive, with many drowning below the Marchionesss decks which was forced underwater in just 30 seconds by the bow of the 1,850 ton dredger. The hands of one of the victims were lost by the coroner's office, and only found four years later, wrapped in plastic at the back of a fridge. It took eleven years for officials to finally hold a public inquiry in to the horrific accident in 2000, after years of campaigning from survivors and victims families. Douglas Henderson, the captain of Bowbelle, was charged with failing to have an effective lookout on the vessel, but two cases against him ended with a hung jury. Victims of attempted crimes are victims . But two cases against him for failing to be an effective lookout ended in a hung jury. [64], Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister, returned home early from her holiday in Austria to be briefed by Michael Portillo, the Minister of State for Transport. The pleasure boat Marchioness sank after being run down by the dredger 51 people were killed in the 1989 Marchioness boat disaster on the River Thames; . Among them was the charismatic young financier Antonio de Vasconcellos, who was hosting a glamorous . EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Sutton, 58, still battles horrifying flashbacks of plunging in to the Thames and watching his friends perish as he battled to survive the Marchioness boat disaster. Most of those onboard the Marchioness were high flyers from the finance and fashion worlds. Among them was the charismatic young financier Antonio de Vasconcellos, who was hosting a . He returned to the ship at 6:00pm for food and a short sleep;[25] one of the ship's company, Terence Blayney, who acted as the forward lookout that night, was with Henderson, and drank seven pints over the same period. My vessel was proceeding outward bound just approaching Cannon Street bridge and, well, I just lost steerage, um and I don't know after that, I can't really say anything else sir. And as Andrew, now the owner of a photographic company, prepares to mark three decades since his friends died, he says he is still angry that no-one has taken responsibility. After that as the Bowbelle passed by I thought how the hell are we going to stop ourselves from getting sucked in to these propellors. To know that somebody is in charge of a massive piece of equipment like that drunk is just not right. RM 2D3JFPM - Britain's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott (L) is embraced by Joyce Drew, a relative of a victim from the Marchioness disaster March 23, 2001. "I probably spent a month going to friends' funerals," he said. But Mr Philpott's friends and girlfriend did not survive. Among those who died was Francesca Dallaglio, 19, the sister of former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio, and Antonio de Vasconcellos, a merchant banker whose 26th birthday was being celebrated on board the Marchioness. 20 years since Marchioness disaster. But he was obviously caught on the front of the boat and he was dragged away from me. [112] Clarke reported in February 2000, concluding: Prescott accepted the recommendation and the public inquest took place in October and November 2000, with Clarke chairing proceedings; the report was published in March 2001. list of victims of the marchioness disaster. Among those. A few days later, a body matching Mr Senior's description was found in the river near HMS Belfast. He began work at Tidal Cruises in 1986 and became the permanent captain of Marchioness in 1987. [29][36] Bowbelle's average speed was about 5.5 knots (6.3mph; 10.2km/h) over the ground. Marchioness survivors and victims' families recall Thames disaster. The Bowbelle itself was sold to a Portuguese company shortly after the tragedy and renamed the Bom Rei in 1990. .mw-parser-output .block-indent{padding-left:3em;padding-right:0;overflow:hidden}, a. The names of the victims were read out at Southwark Cathedral, where 51 roses were laid and. I was in state of semi-consciousness. If half the amount of people died today in central London - virtually in front of the houses of Parliament - there would be outrage. [68], While the lifting operation was progressing, police arrested and interviewed Henderson and Kenneth Noble, Bowbelle's second mate who was at the wheel for the collision. [137] Memorial services have been held at the cathedral on anniversaries of the sinking. "Over the years I have decided everything I do has to be in Simon's memory," she said. Post mortems were carried out on . 3.2 knots over the ground, against a tide of 3 knots (3.5mph; 5.6km/h), equates to a speed of 6.5 knots (7.5mph; 12.0km/h) through the water. The meaning of MARCHIONESS is the wife or widow of a marquess. The Marchioness was crewed that night by a highly experienced captain who had worked on boats on the Thames for 12 years alongside a mate who had two years experience. 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. Forensic investigators and police officers stand on the wreckage of The Marchioness pleasure boat, on 20th August 1998 on the river Thames in London,. On a hot, late-summer evening in 1989, the Marchioness pleasure boat, packed with more than 130 partygoers, collided with the dredger Bowbelle and sank in the River Thames, killing 51 people.. There were 41 people known to have been on the forward deck and wheelhouse, of whom 9 died and 32 survived, a survival rate of 78%. [93][94], At the end of July 1991 Ivor Glogg, the husband of one of the victims, began a private prosecution for manslaughter against four directors of South Coast Shipping Company, the owners of Bowbelle, and corporate manslaughter against the South Coast Shipping Company. [112] Clarke concluded that "The basic cause of the collision is clear. 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. "He just cut to the chase and made you laugh in seconds. The tragedy resulted in the drowning of 51 people. [73][74] No guidelines were issued over which hands should be removed and no individual was given responsibility for making the decision. Jonathan Phang and Antonio de Vasconcellos. [61][62] Waterloo Police Pier was used as the landing point for all casualties and the first responders from the emergency services set up a treatment and processing point there. Toft identified that there were several problems, including no second pleasure cruiser, no fare-paying passengers and no disco lights or music included in the re-enactment. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Green agreed that the first part of the inquest should go aheaddealing with the causes of deathirrespective of the other investigations of the police and the possibility of later criminal charges. The Hayes Report was written by John Hayes, the secretary general of the. Ms Wellington said of her son: "He was a brilliant musician. [29][35], At 1:12am Bowbelle left her berth at the Nine Elms pier near Battersea Power Station and radioed her move by VHF radio to Thames Navigation Service (TNS), based in Woolwich. The Bowbelle had a crew of nine, also with a well experienced captain Douglas Henderson. [9][10] Faldo and McGowan had a business partnership, Top Bar Enterprises, which provided the bar staff and drink for the party. He practised in shipping, aviation and commercial law. [107] In March that year an account in The Mail on Sunday, "Cover up! Clarke (2000:7) is clear that "no member of the public has a right to a public inquiry". He recalled: One minute you are looking at the London skyline and the next minute the whole city starts tipping over at 45 degrees and youre staring down in to the Thames with nowhere else to go but there. In his 2001 report, Lord Justice Clarke reached the same conclusion following a public inquiry. Margaret Lockwood-Croft, whose son Shaun, 26, died in the disaster, was one of the the Marchioness Action Group's founding members. Thats when my energy gave up. conducted the public inquiry into the Identification of Victims Following Major Transport Accidents. 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. 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. The cruellest epitaph: Their deaths in the Marchioness disaster 30 years ago were heartbreaking, but what came next was horrific - victims' corpses mutilated and relatives left fearing that. Recall Thames disaster knots ( 6.3mph ; 10.2km/h ) over the years have... Have been held at the time of the sinking, arriving back at 5:45am less... 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