ABSTRACT
The Herald of Free Enterprise disaster will be remembered by the pictures in the media of the ro-ro ferry lying on its side at Zeebrugge. A ro-ro ferry is essentially a raft over which superstructures are built. The economics of their design require that cargo decks are large and there are no bulkheads to divide the space. In 1988 the relevant regulations of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea were amended, by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in the light of the Zeebrugge disaster. By 1989 all ferries using British waters had installed the additional devices but much of the rest of the world did not follow suit. The Department of Transport commented, 'The agreement derives from work undertaken in the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee but which failed to secure support for its world-wide application'.
