Herald of Free Enterprise in Dover's Eastern Docks, 1984
History
United Kingdom
Name
Herald of Free Enterprise (1980–1987)
Flushing Range (1987–1988)
Owner
Townsend Thoresen (1980–1987)
Compania Naviera S.A. (1987–1988)
Operator
Townsend Thoresen (1980–1987)
Port of registry
Dover, UK
Kingstown, Saint Vincent
Builder
Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, Germany
Launched
21 December 1979
In service
1980
Out of service
1987
Identification
IMO number: 7820485
Fate
Capsized 6 March 1987
Raised 24 April 1987
Scrapped 22 March 1988
General characteristics
Class and type
RORO car and passenger ferry
Tonnage
7951.44 gt; 3439.05 net tonnage
Length
131.91 m (432 ft 9 in)
Beam
23.19 m (76 ft 1 in)
Draught
5.72 m (18 ft 9 in)
Installed power
23,967 bhp (17,872 kW)
Propulsion
3 x Sulzer 12ZV 40/48 diesel engine
Speed
22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity
1,400
MS Herald of Free Enterprise was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew.[1]
The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was owned by Townsend Thoresen, designed for rapid loading and unloading on the competitive cross-channel route between Dover and Calais. As was common at the time, it was built with no watertight compartments. The ship left harbour with her bow door open, and the sea immediately flooded the decks; within minutes, she was lying on her side in shallow water. The immediate cause of the capsizing was found to be negligence by the assistant boatswain, who was asleep in his cabin when he should have been closing the bow door. However, the official inquiry placed more blame on his supervisors and a general culture of poor communication in Townsend Thoresen. The vessel was salvaged, put up for sale, and sold to Naviera SA Kingstown on 30 September 1987, renamed Flushing Range. It was taken to Taiwan on 22 March 1988 to be scrapped.
Since the disaster, improvements have been made to the design of RORO vessels, with watertight ramps, indicators showing the position of the bow doors, and banning of undivided decks.
^Sheen 1987, p. 1.
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