The collision of the cruise boat “MARCHIONESS” and the dredge “BOWBELLE”
on the River
Description:
51 people on the
90-tonne Marchioness died celebrating the birthday of
Both vessels were steaming down stream under
the same arch of
The 1,475-tonne
dredger Bowbelle caught up with the stern the 90
tonne pleasure craft Marchioness, collided and rolled it over on its Starboard
side where it rapidly sank. Passenger were swept away
in the current. The Bowbelle
did not immediately provide assistance. Injuries were attributed to propeller
action of the passing traffic that stopped to assist. Emergency Rescue services
were sent to a different location some miles away.
Douglas Henderson, the captain of the dredger Bowbelle, who had drunk six pints of lager hours before it
crashed into the Marchioness was tried in 1991 on a charge of failing to keep a
proper look-out. The jury failed to reach a verdict, as did another jury at a second trial, and Capt Henderson was formally
acquitted.
In a separate report Lord Justice Clarke criticised
Lord Clarke added: "It is to my mind a shocking feature of
the case that it was possible for a pair of hands to be left undiscovered in
the (
It took 12 years before
public lobbying resulted in a public
inquiry despite the earlier coroner's court ruling that the young people on
board were unlawfully killed.
Staff and agencies- The Guardian
Government officials and police had warned of a possible
Opening the formal investigation, attorney general Lord Williams
of Mostyn said that when the Bowbelle
struck the Marchioness, a pleasure boat with 132 partygoers on board, it
"quickly heeled over to starboard - and rapidly flooded through open doors
and windows". Fifty-one people died.
Lord Williams said that in 1973, a Metropolitan Police chief
inspector had written to the Department of Transport about the safety of
passenger launches on the
Lord Williams said: "How is it that if so many people had
known for so long of the risk of a serious collision on the
In June 1983 there was a collision between the Bowbelle, the vessel involved in the Marchioness accident,
and the passenger launch, The Pride of
No one was hurt but the accident led to a DoT investigation and
the view of a surveyor in the department that the accident could be put down to
"grossly inadequate visibility" from the two vessels.
In the same year another Department of Transport official said
that in his view "as things stood it was not a case of if a serious
accident occurred, but when," Lord Williams told the inquiry.
Deputy prime minister John Prescott
ordered the formal investigation following years of pressure on both his
government and the previous Tory administration by Marchioness families.
A Marine Accident Investigation Branch report in August 1991
said the failure of lookouts on both ships was the immediate cause of the
tragedy. The report also cited marine regulation faults going back 25 years.
Jeevan
Vasagar - The Guardian
Wednesday October 4, 2000
Eleven years after he captained the dredger Bowbelle
when it collided with the pleasure boat Marchioness, Douglas Henderson sat
before survivors and relatives of the 51 dead yesterday and declined to express
remorse.
The captain, now 42 and still a serving seaman, admitted misleading
police about the number of people on lookout duty that night. He admitted
drinking six pints and then sleeping for a little under three hours before the Bowbelle's night-time journey. He also declared that
rescuing the drowning passengers of the Marchioness "was not one of my top
priorities".
Mr Henderson was tried in 1991 on a charge of failing to keep a
proper lookout. The jury failed to reach a verdict, as did another jury at a
second trial and he was acquitted.
Under cross-examination yesterday, the captain defended his
decision not to release the dredger's lifebuoys when he realised that his ship
had struck another: "At the time it was not a matter that was one of my
top priorities. I did not give any consideration to releasing them."
He went on: "I realised something was wrong and ran to the
stern of the vessel. I left the helmsman at the bridge.
"I can't recall exactly what happened because it all became
a blur."
The captain said he concentrated on the safety of his own
vessel, deciding "the best course of action was to get clear of the
area."
Nigel Teare, QC, counsel for the
attorney-general, asked: "At what stage did you start to hear cries from
the water?"
The captain replied: "I do not like to recall - I just
don't know."
Asked by Michael Mansfield, QC, acting for a group of 87
Marchioness relatives, "Was there anything you would have done in a
different manner?" he declined to speak of rescue, saying: "I would
have made sure the lookouts had written instructions ... because it would have
saved a lot of questions, the ones I've just faced."
Questioned about the look-out on the Bowbelle,
Mr Henderson admitted telling police misleadingly that two men, Terence Blayney
and Edward Quantrill, were posted as lookouts on the
night.
In fact, he said yesterday, only Mr Blayney was a lookout and
the other crewman was assigned to different duties on the Bowbelle.
The captain admitted drinking six pints on a pub crawl on his
own. However, he insisted he had not been affected by the drink.
The inquiry heard that the ship's cook was so drunk that he had
gone to sleep and was not available to help in the emergency.
The ship's helmsman wore thick glasses and a hearing aid, but
the captain denied that this meant he could not see dangers or hear warnings
clearly.
The captain admitted that in June 1989, the year of the tragedy,
he had captained the Bowbelle when it was involved in
a collision with a commercial vessel at Newhaven harbour in East Sussex.
But he denied Mr Mansfield's suggestion that the cause of that
accident was "a lack of liaison between the bridge and the engine
room."
Mr Mansfield pressed the captain on whether he saw the pleasureboat passengers' desperate battle to survive.
Mr Mansfield: "Did you see people in the water ?"
Mr Henderson: "I'm not sure whether I did or not."
Mr Mansfield: "Would you want to know whether you had
-"
Mr Henderson (interrupting): "The whole thing went very
quick and I cannot - I had difficulty then and I have difficulty now coming to
terms - and I do not ..."
Mr Mansfield: "Were you concerned whether anybody was
injured in this collision?"
Mr Henderson replied: "Of course I was."
The inquiry continues today.
Staff and agencies
Friday March 23, 2001
Douglas Henderson, the captain of the dredger Bowbelle, who had drunk six pints of lager hours before it
crashed into the Marchioness riverboat in a disaster in which 51 people died,
is likely to escape prosecution, the deputy prime minister, John Prescott said
today.
Captain Henderson was partly blamed in a public inquiry into the
tragedy on the Thames pleasure boat that was published this morning. Mr
Prescott said the inquiry report would be passed in its entirety to the
Director of Public Prosecutions.
This, he said, was "for him to consider whether action
would be appropriate against Captain Henderson or any other party".
However, Mr Prescott added: "The preliminary advice that I have received
is that there is little prospect of a successful prosecution of Captain
Henderson."
The report, by Lord Justice Clarke, held back from recommending
any disciplinary action against Captain Henderson because of the amount of time
that had elapsed and on human rights grounds.
The 1989 accident was a "catastrophe which should never
have happened", Lord Justice Clarke said. Poor lookouts on both vessels
were responsible for the collision, the report concluded.
In a separate report, published simultaneously today, Lord
Justice Clarke criticised Westminster coroner Dr Paul Knapman
for his decision to cut the hands off more than 20 of the Marchioness victims
for identification purposes.
Lord Clarke added: "It is to my mind a shocking feature of
the case that it was possible for a pair of hands to be left undiscovered in
the (Westminster) mortuary, not just for months but for years.
"The hands should not have been removed and Dr Knapman must bear the responsibility for the fact that they
were."
Mr Knapman said: "We have learned
from our experiences following the terrible tragedy of the Marchioness. I note
Lord Justice Clarke's findings in respect of my own actions. I am particularly
gratified that his report concludes that I acted at all times in good faith and
with the best of intentions."
Partygoers were celebrating on the Marchioness on the night of
August 20 1989 when the collision occurred near Southwark in central London.
Today's report follows a 10-year battle by survivors and
relatives and friends of the victims to have hearings in public.
The Clarke report said: "The basic cause of the collision
is clear. It was poor lookout on both vessels. Neither vessel saw the other in
time to take action to avoid the collision."
The report stated the accident was caused at least in part by
the fault of Captain Henderson and Marchioness skipper Stephen Faldo to set up and operate a proper system of lookout on
their vessels.
The report said Captain Henderson should himself have kept a
proper lookout and that, if he had, he would have seen the Marchioness. It said
that on the afternoon before the 1.45am collision, Captain Henderson
"drank more than he should".
Although it was reckoned that Captain Henderson would have had
no alcohol in his bloodstream at the time of the collision, the report added:
"We cannot stress too strongly how much he deprecate Captain Henderson's
conduct in drinking so much before returning to the vessel as master."
The Marchioness Action Group, which represents survivors and
families of those who died, welcomed the reports and called for the
recommendations to be acted on immediately.
Spokeswoman Margaret Lockwood-Croft said: "Lord Justice
Clarke's reports are hard hitting and thorough. We fully support the
recommendations, particularly for stricter alcohol regulations on waterways and
for search and rescue services on our rivers."