On March 6th 1987, 193 people were killed when the roll-on/roll-off ferry capsized outside Zeebrugge harbour after setting sail with her bow doors open. This film reconstructs the last journey of the Herald of Free Enterprise and speaks at length to some of the people whose lives were changed forever by the catastrophe. It features interviews with survivors, those who lost loved ones, and the British and Belgian rescuers.
i seen this last year sometime, it must be a repeat. well worth a watch its very interesting. it states at the end that untill the design of these ships where changed there was something like 3 ships world wide like this one that sank each year. now since they changed the design there has been none sank, just makes you think why the design wasnt changed long ago.
They haven’t changed the design. Get on one of those things at your peril. The main garages are complete decks with no baffles… Work it out for yourself. The only thing that has changed is CCTV on the doors & the crew is banned from drinking alcohol. ( Which cures 90% of the dangers…)
I was told by a reliable source that the Townsend Torensen Hof FE is still sailing as a ferry around the greek Islands. The name still being visible under the new(ish) paint. As far as I recall the Hof FE sister ship is badged as the “Pride of Cherbourg”, and still sails Cherb to P’mouth. Spent many a friday night on that, and can remember thinking that if I were the mayor of Cherbourg I would urge P&O to rename her
It remains a story of shocking incompetence and negligence though doesn’t it?
If you, or I had caused ONE death, or injury, due to a similar level of such utter lack of care or diligence, then I’m sure that the “wrath of justice” would have visited us with a vengeance.
When that happened TT was rotten from top to bottom. Crews were permanently drunk & letters of complaint from drivers were routinely binned by TT. When P+O took over they sacked most of the management & took the booze etc. away from crew , the crews ( Old militant soaks ) went on strike & picketed outside the dock for about a year. And never got back on board . That was the best thing that ever happened to the ferries. All new staff to look after the passengers. Friendly sober staff calling us ,‘Sir.’ Breath of fresh air. The old guard thought that the ferries ran for their pleasure & that passengers were a nuisance. On that fatal run it was normal for all the crew ( I am not saying senior officers here ) to party all the way over to ZB ,give the drivers their swill & then close the bar & party all the way back to Dover. I was on that boat once when all food & drink outlets were closed down due to a booze up in progress & the drunken crew did a Conga line thru the drivers lounge where the drivers were sitting it out for five hours without even a cup of tea. Of course unions were all powerful in those days…
hi harry,i rememer it well,it happened on my ex wifes birthday,i was at home special for it,we were in a restaraunt in leeds having a dinner,all you say about TT is correct and more could be said alot more if the truths known,and to add insult to injury the pilocks went on strike eh i ask ya.
I don’t forget any of that mealy mouthed drunken crowd…Just wish they were held to account for what they did…( God knows how many drivers they killed with their lethal fry-ups…)
As has been said the tradegy was caused by a Bad management and staff and Lack of fail safe safety systems to stop the boat sailing with the doors open. Whether this was automated system or the responibility of one person who had to report to the bridge before the ship could leave the harbour.
Although the fundamantal design of Roll on Roll off ferries is flawed, I’m sure there are bulkhead doors that close across the vehicle decks when the ship sails although not on the cross channel ferries. I think I’ve seen them on the Portmouth to Le Harve crossing.
I believe after the Estonia disaster in the Baltic they sealed the bow door and did all the loading and unloading from the rear.
The basics are; The guy that had the job of closing the doors was in his bunk asleep;The officer ( Of the car deck ) that checked the doors were closed reported to the bridge without checking ;The captain whose job it was to ask the officer if the doors were closed,forgot to ask …Nobody took responsibility for anything. It was the same as the Alpha Piper disaster. When the inquiry ( Lord Falconer,I believe ) was held it transpired that the crew were 'multi-tasking…'One man would be responsible for safety ,working the machinery etc. Another was responsible for other things &so on, so that everything was covered. On paper the whole crew were a managements dream. But in reality they had very little knowledge or training for anything . So in effect no-one had responsibility for anything. After that you had to get a licence even to drive a fork lift & on & on up to todays million & one H+S rules & regs.
brit pete The Hungarian driver was Charlie,a good mate of mine, he lived in Scotland & worked for Hangartner. Charlie wedged himself against a table in the saloon & kicked out the saloon windows ,which were now skylights. He then went back & hauled out many trapped passengers in rising waters.Caspar Hangarter treated him like Royalty , & rightly so , after that, .When he retired he recieved the full Hangartner pension & could at anytime he felt like it do a trip on full pay.
Tramper:
I was told by a reliable source that the Townsend Torensen Hof FE is still sailing as a ferry around the greek Islands. The name still being visible under the new(ish) paint.
One of the three sister ships Spirit of Free Enterpise is still sailing in Greece.
Tramper
You are quite right,The Pride of Cherbourg was an old TT boat,but does not operate to Cherbourg anymore,it “retired” when P & O stopped doing Cherbourg. The LD Line boat on Ports/ Le Harve also looks to be an ex TT boat also ,it was at one time Prince of Aquatain
