Finger of blaMe pointed at officers and coMpany as well

The Herald of Free Enterprise set sail from Zeebrugge at 6.05pm on March 6, 1987 with 80 crew members and 459 passengers on board.

Yet by 6.30pm the ship had capsized after passing the outer mole in the harbour.

The bow doors of the ship had not been closed.

It was revealed that 193 people had died in the disaster, which sparked an investigation by the Department for Transport led by Mr Justice Barry Sheen.

Mr Stanley admitted his responsibility immediately.

Mr Justice Sheen’s inquiry found Mr Stanley had opened the doors upon arrival at Zeebrugge, then directed maintenance staff in the cleaning of the ship.

Then he had been released from his work by the bosun and retired to his cabin where he fell asleep, and didn’t hear the harbour stations call on the loudspeaker system.

Mr Justice Sheen’s report stated: “Mr Stanley has frankly recognised his failure to turn up for duty and he will, no doubt, suffer remorse for a long time to come.”

But the judge did not single out Mr Stanley solely for the blame, and pointed to failures by the ship’s chief officer and captain in failing to check that the bow doors were closed.

The report also criticised the ferry company, then owned by Townsend Thoresen, as being “infected by a disease of sloppiness”.

The disaster led to new safety measures on roll-on roll-off ferries which include water-tight ramps, indicators showing the position of bow doors and a ban on undivided decks.