Searchable article text
RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2017 :: RMTnews 6 T hirty years ago this month the Herald of Free Enterprise owned by P&O Ferries, although still in the colours of Townsend Thoresen, capsized just outside the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium killing 193 crew and passengers. RMT national secretary Steve Todd and Lee Davison Dover shipping branch secretary attended the Sailors Society memorial service at St Mary's Church in Dover to commemorate the anniversary. A two minute silence was observed by all in attendance followed by the names of the people who lost their lives being read out including entire families. After the church service the ships bell recovered by divers was a presented to the Herald Families Association. RMT executive committee member Lee Davison said that the people of Dover knew where they were on the evening of March 6 1987. “I was 10 years old having tea with my nan when it came up on the TV, I got straight on the phone to see what Ship my dad was on at the time fortunately he was on the sister ship Pride of Free Enterprise. “30 years on the Herald of Free Enterprise is still in everyone's hearts,” he said. The disaster resulted in significant changes to international maritime safety regulations, including the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention. The union successfully fought off industry attempts in 2014 to scrap the legal requirement for emergency equipment lockers on-deck for ro-ro passenger ferries, although the union was unable to persuade the government to retain three regulations covering weight distribution and weighing of cargo. The UK Chamber of Shipping’s Blueprint for Growth document published last year contains a shopping list of regulations which the industry would like to see cut in areas including vessel stability and minimum hours of rest for seafarers. Steve Todd said that the disaster should never be forgotten and the influential safety regulations put in place after should never be allowed to be diluted by shipping companies to cut costs. “These regulations were put in place so that an incident of this magnitude never happens again and RMT must continue to defend safety at all costs within our maritime sector,” he said. HERALD OF FREE ENTERPRISE - 30 YEARS