ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of the 1989 Marchioness disaster, on the River Thames, in which 51 young lives were lost, reviews the disaster itself before examining the legal processes that followed it. Evidence presented by the lawyers for the Marchioness Action Group at the Inquest in 1995, located the collision at Southwark Bridge. The Hurlingham was taken stern first through Southwark Bridge and picked up people from the cages and barges. Passengers had to smash windows in order to lean out and rescue survivors from the Marchioness. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) also considered that tidal interaction could have contributed to a sheer to port by the Marchioness, combined with the effects of hydrodynamic interaction. The Marchioness Action Group commissioned an independent expert, Dr Brian Toft, to prepare a critique of the MAIB report that, in his opinion, had made great efforts ‘not to offend anyone’.
