ROYSTON GRANGE REMEMBERED

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: june 2022 :: RMTnews 24 A ceremony in the All Hallows by the Tower church in London last month marked 50 years since the vessel Royston Grange was engulfed in a fireball and all those on board lost their lives. In a moving ceremony in the packed church the names of all 74 people who died were read out and a choir sang Alfred Tennyson’s poem ‘Crossing the Bar’. On May 11, 1972 the Steam Turbine Vessel (STV) Royston Grange was carrying 61 crew members and 12 passengers when it collided with the Tien Chee Chinese oil tanker, operating under the flag convenience of Liberia in dense fog. It was bound from Buenos Aires to London, packed with a cargo of beef and butter. Although the ship did not sink in the collision, everyone perished in the fire which subsequently engulfed it. According to maritime rules, the two ships should have passed each other's port sides. But Royston Grange's bow struck Tien Chee's port side, rupturing the tanker's wing tank. Tien Chee's cargo caught fire, which almost instantly spread to Royston Grange, and the butter in the latter's cargo contributed to the intensity of the fire. The collision swung Tien Chee across the channel, grounding her and blocking all traffic in or out of Buenos Aires. Argentina, Liberia and the UK all investigated the disaster. The Liberian inquiry concluded that Tien Chee's Master and pilot, in an attempt to get enough water for her deep draught, had probably navigated too far to the south side of the channel, forcing Royston Grange farther south onto the shelf that formed its southern boundary. The bank deflected Royston Grange, causing her to shear to port and strike Tien Chee. The officers of Royston Grange, it concluded, were probably not to blame, although there may have been some human error in trying to avoid the collision. The master and pilot of Tien Chee probably should not have entered the channel in the first place in the tidal conditions prevailing at the time. The report severely criticised the lack of maintenance of the channel. REMEMBRANCE: Window in All Hallows-by-the-Tower, with the Royston Grange panel in the lower part of the centre light The Royston Grange ROYSTON GRANGE REMEMBERED Ceremony in London marks the 50th anniversary of the Royston Grange disaster