Service to remember 30 years since ferry disaster

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Rescue vessels surrounding the stricken Townsend Thorensen car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, which capsized near the entrance to Zeebrugge Harbour, Belgium, on its way to Dover. 193 people lost their lives in the disaster. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Sunday March 5, 2017. See PA story MEMORIAL Zeebrugge. Photo credit should read: PA/PA WireRescue vessels surrounding the stricken Townsend Thorensen car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, which capsized near the entrance to Zeebrugge Harbour, Belgium, on its way to Dover. 193 people lost their lives in the disaster. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Sunday March 5, 2017. See PA story MEMORIAL Zeebrugge. Photo credit should read: PA/PA Wire
Rescue vessels surrounding the stricken Townsend Thorensen car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, which capsized near the entrance to Zeebrugge Harbour, Belgium, on its way to Dover. 193 people lost their lives in the disaster. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Sunday March 5, 2017. See PA story MEMORIAL Zeebrugge. Photo credit should read: PA/PA Wire

Thirty years ago today a ferry set sail from the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium and was heading for Dover.

Within 60 seconds that journey had turned into a disaster, the MS Herald of Free Enterprise car and passenger ferry had capsized, killing 193 people and changing the course of sea travel forever.

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Heroics by crew and passengers led to the majority of those on board surviving, but it was too late for the 150 plus passengers and nearly 40 crew who perished in what has become the worst peacetime British maritime disaster in living memory.

People attend a service of remembrance for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)People attend a service of remembrance for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
People attend a service of remembrance for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

The victims will be remembered today at a service at St Mary The Virgin Church, in Dover, which is held annually by maritime charity the Sailors’ Society.

Stuart Rivers, the Sailors’ Society’s chief executive officer, said: “This service gives us a chance to join with those families in remembrance of the loved ones they lost so suddenly and the many acts of individual heroism of both crew and passengers that evening.”

Among them will be Kim Spooner, whose aunt and uncle Neil “Billy” Spooner, 37, and Mary Smith, 44, died after taking advantage of a cut-price Continental day-trip offer in a newspaper.

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Ms Spooner, 38, from Essex, said: “I was eight years old at the time and I can remember it like it was yesterday. I knew that it was something absolutely terrible.

A ships bell, recovered from the Herald of Free Enterprise, stands on a table next to flowers during a remembrance service for victims of the disaster at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. The bell was recovered from the ship during the salvage operation and will be presented to the town of Dover. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)A ships bell, recovered from the Herald of Free Enterprise, stands on a table next to flowers during a remembrance service for victims of the disaster at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. The bell was recovered from the ship during the salvage operation and will be presented to the town of Dover. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
A ships bell, recovered from the Herald of Free Enterprise, stands on a table next to flowers during a remembrance service for victims of the disaster at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. The bell was recovered from the ship during the salvage operation and will be presented to the town of Dover. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

“The worst bit was waiting for news because we were obviously in a time when there were no mobile phones and no internet.

“For them, it was a spur of the moment trip. It wasn’t a planned thing. They lived in Essex so lived quite close to the coast. It was fate. They could have gone the day before or the day after.

“Their deaths have completely affected my life, and how I form relationships. They were like a second mum and dad to me, and we were a really close-knit unit.

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“I have never recovered from it to be honest. I get quite angry when I hear it described as a freak accident because it wasn’t. There were people and corporations to blame. It’s as simple as that.”

Kim Spooner, center, from Britain, carries flowers for an uncle she lost during a remembrance service for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)Kim Spooner, center, from Britain, carries flowers for an uncle she lost during a remembrance service for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Kim Spooner, center, from Britain, carries flowers for an uncle she lost during a remembrance service for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A public inquiry confirmed the roll on, roll off ferry had left Zeebrugge with its bow doors open, allowing water to flood the car deck, and the crew member responsible for closing them was asleep at the time - until he was thrown out of his bunk by the capsize of the vessel

The ship ended up on its side, half-submerged on a sandbar in shallow water just 90 metres from the shore

In October 1987, an inquest jury returned verdicts of unlawful killing.

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A manslaughter trial began at the Old Bailey in September 1990 involving eight defendants, including the ferry company, which at the time was known as Townsend Thoresen, and three former directors.

People attend a service of remembrance for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)People attend a service of remembrance for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
People attend a service of remembrance for the the victims of the Herald of Free Enterprise at the Saint Donaas Church in Zeebrugge, Belgium on Sunday, March 5, 2017. On March 6, 2017, thirty years will have passed since the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized with the loss of 193 lives shortly after setting out to Dover from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

But the case collapsed a month later after the judge directed the jury to acquit them.

Retired chaplain Bill McCrea, now 75, officiated at four of the victims’ funeral services.

“I have dealt with individual loss of life with seafarers’ families over the years, but it was the enormity of the situation. So many people lost their lives that night.

“One woman, whose husband I buried, had to wait six weeks before they found his body.

“Who can train you for that? Not even theological training.”

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