Families remember 193 ferry victims 30 years on
FAMILIES touched by the Zeebrugge ferry disaster will gather at a church service today, to mark the 30th anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 193 lives.
At about 6pm on March 6 1987, the Townsend Thoresen roll-on, roll-off ferry the Herald of Free Enterprise turned over on its side outside Zeebrugge, Belgium, as it set out for Dover, Kent.
Heroics by crew and passengers led to the majority of those on board surviving, but more than 150 passengers and nearly 40 crew on the British-flagged vessel perished.
At St Mary The Virgin Church in Dover this evening, relatives will attend a service to remember those who died in what was the worst peacetime British maritime disaster in living memory.
Among those attending will be Kim Spooner, from Essex, whose aunt and uncle Neil “Billy” Spooner, 37, and Mary Smith, 44, died after taking advanwas tage of a cut-price day-trip offer in a newspaper.
Ms Spooner said: “I was eight years old and I can remember it like it was yesterday. The worst bit was waiting for news.
“It was a spur of the moment trip. It wasn’t a planned thing. They could have gone the day before or the day after.
“Their deaths have completely affected my life. They were like a second mum and dad.
“I have never recovered from it, to be honest. I get quite angry when I hear it described as a freak accident because it wasn’t. There were people and corporations to blame. It’s as simple as that.”
A public inquiry confirmed the ferry had left Zeebrugge with its bow doors open, allowing water to flood the car deck. The crew member responsible for closing them was asleep.
A number of the heroes of the disaster received awards, including a George Medal for former policeman Andrew Parker. His actions saved his wife, his 12-year-old daughter and about 20 other passengers.
Townsend Thoresen, which later became P&O European Ferries, was severely criticised in the public inquiry report. An inquest jury returned verdicts of unlawful killing. A manslaughter at the Old Bailey in 1990, involving eight defendants, including the ferry company and three former directors, collapsed after the judge directed the jury to acquit them.