Bow doors had been left open

THE Zeebrugge disaster prompted a lengthy investigation which eventually laid the blame at the door of several people.

In spite of capsizing in shallow water only 100 yards from the shore, 193 people lost their lives aboard the MS Herald of Free Enterprise.

The bow doors had been left open when the ship left port and water immediately flooded her car decks, making the vessel unstable.

Survivors said it took between 45 seconds and one minute for the ship to turn over and come to rest on its side on a sandbank.

The deaths prompted a public inquiry, where a report by Lord Justice Sheen identified a “disease of sloppiness” and negligence at every level of the hierarchy of Townsend Thoresen, the company which operated the vessel.

Assistant boatswain Mark Stanley had failed to close the bow doors before the ferry set sail on March 6, 1987. Mr Stanley had returned to his cabin after cleaning the car deck upon arrival in Zeebrugge and was still asleep when a call sounded to close the doors.

The official inquiry also placed blame on Mr Stanley’s supervisors and a culture of poor communication at Townsend Thoresen.

The disaster sparked a corporate manslaughter trial in the late 1980s. An inquest jury returned verdicts of unlawful killing in 187 cases.

The manslaughter case failed because the various acts of negligence could not be attributed to any individual who was a “controlling mind”.

In the aftermath, improvements to similar vessels were ordered and watertight ramps and indicators showing the position of the bow doors became standard.

Townsend Thoresen’s parent company P&O rebranded the company as P&O European Ferries and repainted their fleet’s red hulls in navy blue.