Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Marchioness tragedy. On 20 August 1989, this packed pleasure cruiser collided with the dredger Bowbelle beneath Southwark bridge in London.
I have a bizarre memory of the occasion, despite not being in London at the time of the disaster, as a friend of mine at the time (and lodger) back in Cardiff was very close to the gay club promoter and DJ Colin Peters whose boyfriend and mother were both killed on that fateful night.
During the 1980s, gay club nights Bang! and Propaganda were run by Colin (one of whose DJs at that time was a certain Jeremy Joseph), and following his death his brother Jamie took over. A few years afterwards (through the same Welsh friend) I met Jamie and his girlfriend while he was DJ-ing at The Fridge. Sadly, I was told some time later that Jamie, too, had died, and no-one was sure whether it was an accidental overdose, or a delayed reaction to his terrible loss (suicide)...
The tragic death of 51 (mostly young) passengers and crew - on a celebratory party to celebrate the 26th birthday of millionaire banker Antonio Vasconcellos - led to demands for a fundamental review of emergency search and rescue cover on the River Thames. The late Eileen Dallaglio, mother of rugby star Lawrence, was among the family members who successfully battled for changes in the law after her daughter was killed (aged only 19, the youngest to die), which led to the establishment of RNLI lifeboat coverage of the Thames for the first time.
Yet the survivors of the Marchioness have never really been awarded a just conclusion to their tragedy. Evidence found that hands and other body parts had been removed from the bodies at the time of the crash. The skipper of the dredger Bowbelle that ploughed into the smaller boat was proven to be drunk and negligent, and not on watch for small boats in its path, yet was acquitted and retained his licence. The proprietors of the pleasure boat itself were never found culpable of anything despite the fact that no-one was allegedly on lookout duty at the time when the dredger was hoving down upon them. So in my view, justice has yet to be done.
Regardless of all of that, this was a terribly sad chapter in London's history, and one which we should all remember.
Marchioness memorial service
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