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The British car ferry M/S Herald of Free Enterprise departs the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium. The crew accidentally left the bow doors open and water enters the car deck, causing the ferry to capsize, taking the lives of 193 passengers and crew.
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00:01The English Channel, the world's busiest shipping lane.
00:06Every day tens of thousands cross it by ferry.
00:09It's a safe, routine trip.
00:12Until one ship capsizes just over a kilometer outside port.
00:18Within 90 seconds, hundreds of people are fighting for their lives in the icy water.
00:24193 die in Britain's worst maritime accident since the Titanic.
00:30Now with advanced computer simulations, we reveal exactly what went wrong on the Herald of Free Enterprise.
00:38Disasters don't just happen, they're a chain of critical events.
00:43Unravel the decisions that triggered those final seconds from disaster.
00:56Europe, Belgium, Seebrugge.
01:09Ferries from England and Germany sail in and out of this bustling North Sea port every day.
01:18March 6th, 1987. A chilly winter's day.
01:25The Herald of Free Enterprise, an 8,000-ton car and passenger ferry owned by the European shipping company Townsend
01:31Torresen, arrives from Dover.
01:33She's made the four and a half hour journey across the English Channel safely thousands of times.
01:43The Herald is on a tight schedule. She must complete four crossings every day.
01:50And between each trip, her crew must offload passengers and vehicles, clean the ship, and then reload for the next
01:56trip, all in the space of 90 minutes.
01:59Today, the Herald is just barely staying on schedule.
02:064 p.m.
02:12Assistant bosun Mark Stanley finishes up cleaning the car deck, ready for the return trip to England.
02:19He's been on duty for more than five hours, but will get an hour-long break before the ship sails
02:24for home.
02:27While the Herald's crew works hard, her passengers savour the last hours ashore, enjoying the shops, restaurants and cheap alcohol
02:34of continental Europe.
02:37Most are British tourists, like 19-year-old bartender Simon Osborne.
02:42He's on a day trip to Belgium with a group of friends.
02:46We spent the afternoon on a pub crawl, you know, from bar to bar around Last End.
02:50It was a really good day, a good last day out.
02:55They order one last round of drinks.
02:58Soon, they'll be leaving to sail home on the Herald.
03:084.30 p.m.
03:12Assistant bosun Mark Stanley completes his duties and heads to a crew cabin for his break.
03:16He won't be needed on the car deck again until just before the ship sails at 6 p.m.
03:25On the bridge, the Herald's captain, David Lurie, who has ten years' experience commanding ships.
03:32He double-checks his route home across the channel.
03:35It'll be his second crossing of the day.
03:39By 5 p.m., cars and trucks are starting to roll onto the Herald's lower car deck through her giant
03:45bow doors.
03:48A cut-price ticket deal means the ship will be at capacity tonight, and the crew have just one hour
03:53to complete loading.
03:59Once the lower deck is full, the crew must load the upper car deck.
04:07But there's a problem. The loading rabbit Zebrugge doesn't reach the upper car deck.
04:13To reduce the gap, the captain must lower the ship in the water.
04:17He does this by pumping seawater into her ballast tanks.
04:22After 30 minutes, the ship sits one meter lower in the water.
04:25Only now can loading of the upper deck begin.
04:36The cheap ticket deal means the ship is packed with passengers, too.
04:40Tonight, there are 459 on board.
04:455.30 p.m.
04:47Michael and Maureen Bennett, their 20-year-old daughter Teresa and her boyfriend, make their way home after a day
04:52out by the seaside.
04:55Teresa arranged the outing to mark a special family occasion for her mother and father.
05:01It was our wedding anniversary on the 1st of April, and Teresa thought it would be nice to take us
05:07out.
05:07We walked along the Ostend Harbour, all around the lovely shops there.
05:12We really had a smashing time over there.
05:205.45 p.m.
05:2215 minutes to departure.
05:25The crew struggles to load the upper car deck in time.
05:30First Officer Leslie Sable is in charge of loading, and he's feeling the heat.
05:36Turnarounds are so tight that even a short hold-up here could throw out the Herald schedule for subsequent crossings.
05:43Crew member Lee Cornelius is hard at work.
05:46It's always a bit of a rush at the end.
05:48The cars turn up just before he's sailing and fill the ship up.
05:585.57.
06:02The crew finally finishes loading, but they're too late.
06:06The Herald will not depart on schedule tonight.
06:10Lee Cornelius places the safety chain across the bow doors.
06:18First Officer Sable tells Captain Lurie that loading is complete.
06:22OK, loading complete. Copy that.
06:25Then he heads for his position on the bridge.
06:27Stations, all stations.
06:29Herald, a free enterprise to balance between the harbour.
06:32Proceeding outwards.
06:33The announcement, harbour stations calls crew members to their posts for departure.
06:38Lee Cornelius leaves the car deck to report to his station.
06:486.05 p.m.
06:52Captain Lurie starts up the ship's three 9,000-horsepower engines.
06:59They're five minutes late.
07:01But weather reports say the channel is calm with only a light wind.
07:06He might be able to make up the time on the crossing.
07:11Michael and Maureen Bennett go to the restaurant on sea deck to grab a bite to eat.
07:18Spirits are high among the homeward bound passengers.
07:21It was a happy atmosphere on board.
07:23It was, you know, everybody had enjoyed themselves.
07:27Their daughter Teresa and her boyfriend are also on sea deck, relaxing in the lounge area.
07:35We got a drink.
07:37We just sat talking about the crossing back.
07:41I don't really like travelling on boats, though.
07:43It's quite a big thing for me to travel out there anyway.
07:47The Herald steams out of Zebrugge Harbour.
07:49She's now heading out into the icy waters of the North Sea.
07:56Nineteen-year-old Simon Osborne leaves his friends in the cafeteria.
08:01He goes to the perfume counter on sea deck to buy a gift for his girlfriend.
08:086.24 p.m.
08:10As the ship approaches the outer harbour, Captain Lurie accelerates up to 18 knots, the maximum speed permitted.
08:19There's a party atmosphere among the homeward bound passengers.
08:24Then, out of the blue.
08:29The ship lurches violently, throwing Simon Osborne off balance.
08:34Very suddenly there was a jolt, and the woman turned round and kind of stared at me and started screaming.
08:45In the cafeteria, people think nothing of it.
08:50Government worker Michael Reynolds recalls the scene.
08:54You hear the odd person say cheers, you know, with a typical British sense of humour.
08:59The ship stabilises and everything returns to normal.
09:04The passengers go back to having fun.
09:09But down below, on the ship's car deck, something is terribly wrong.
09:18Just over a kilometre outside Zebrugge Harbour, something is desperately wrong on the Townsend Taurasan ship, the Herald of Free
09:24Enterprise.
09:28The Herald starts to veer off course.
09:31Captain Lurie wrestles with the controls.
09:34But she's not responding.
09:39Then on E-deck, the lower car deck, a crew member alerts one of the assistant purses.
09:45There's a big problem.
09:48Water.
09:48Water.
09:49Vast amounts of it pour down the stairs from the upper car deck.
09:54The purser races up the stairs to C-deck, where there's a radio.
10:00He desperately tries to call the bridge.
10:03But there's no response.
10:146.28pm.
10:17Now, a massive jolt.
10:20This time the ship tilts a full 30 degrees to the left.
10:26Before Captain Lurie can issue a mayday call, the tilting ship throws him to the floor.
10:30The fall knocks him unconscious.
10:34As the ship tilts, English couple Michael and Maureen Bennett struggle to hold onto their table in the cafeteria.
10:41The sensation you get is like somebody who's pulling a rug from underneath you.
10:45You can't get any potholes, you can't hold onto anything.
10:50The 8,000-ton ship now starts to roll over.
10:5619-year-old Simon Osborne loses his footing.
11:00I was sliding down.
11:01It was as if, literally, the world had been turned upside down.
11:04The only thing that was stopping me from going over, because the tables were strapped to the floor.
11:09If the tables had shifted, I would have gone.
11:12As the Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes, there's a terrible grinding noise.
11:19Now the seawater breaks through the ship's portholes.
11:25I was standing there, rooted to the bottom, staring at this wall of white water coming towards me.
11:30And I thought then, you're going to die.
11:33The ship's sinking, and you're going to die.
11:40Thousands of tons of water gush into the ship under huge pressure.
11:45It's just like having a fire hose fitted on you, really.
11:48It just pushed you back up the boat.
12:00Michael Bennett's wife, Maureen, can't swim.
12:04He's desperately trying to keep her head above water.
12:07But the rushing torrent makes it harder and harder for Michael to keep his grip.
12:13I really, really panicked.
12:15I just panicked. I knew I was going to die.
12:17I had Maureen, my hand on her bra and her clothes, holding on tight to her.
12:24And that's the only way I could keep hold of her until that water had settled down.
12:27Otherwise, she would have been gone.
12:33The ferry's entire left side sinks into the North Sea,
12:38leaving only its right flank visible above the water.
12:42In a stroke of luck, the ship comes to rest on a sandbank.
12:48The sandbank stops it from sinking further, at least for now.
13:00At the edge of the harbour, the Belgian vessel Sandaris dredges the shipping channel.
13:05She's about one kilometre from the Herald.
13:09Her crew sees the bright lights of the Herald flicker and then go out.
13:22They radio Zebrugger port controller Guido Derudere.
13:29Derudere immediately issues a mayday, requesting all nearby boats to rush to the aid of the stricken ship.
13:38Andrei Papp is the skipper of the tugboat Seahorse.
13:41As soon as he receives the port controller's call, he and his crew rush to the ferry.
13:55Inside the flooded Herald, more than 500 passengers and crew fight for survival.
14:03A dazed Michael Bennet struggles to keep his wife Maureen afloat in the freezing water.
14:13The Bennet's daughter, Theresa, finds herself alone in another part of the ship.
14:20Her leather coat fills with air and acts like a makeshift light jacket.
14:30But now, people struggling in the water below her try to grab her to stay afloat.
14:36You could feel people holding onto your coat, holding onto your trousers and literally trying to climb over you.
14:45One of the worst things is you've got someone holding onto you and then all of a sudden it's gone.
14:59Passengers who managed to survive now face another deadly enemy, hypothermia.
15:04You start to think, are you going to get out? Are we going to die?
15:10The North Sea water is just a few degrees above freezing.
15:14At these temperatures, most people will lose consciousness in just 20 minutes.
15:19Mayday relay, mayday relay, off-temp, off-temp, off-temp radio, mayday message number one.
15:27A glass partition traps government employee Michael Reynolds.
15:33To keep his head above water, he stands on the side of a chair fixed to the floor.
15:38Water inside the ship continues to rise rapidly.
15:43There's no more than 18 inches of air.
15:47And I remember thinking, if we go any deeper, then that is it.
15:586.40pm. Twelve minutes since the Herald keeled over.
16:07The rescue tugboat seahorse nears the 8,000-ton ship.
16:12The tugboat crew break windows to get to the panicking passengers trapped below.
16:216.43pm. Fifteen minutes since the capsize.
16:29The water levels finally stabilise.
16:35Teresa Bennett has no idea where her parents and boyfriend are.
16:40She shivers. The water is just three degrees Celsius.
16:45The water was very, very cold indeed. Your body just shuts down.
16:51If Teresa isn't rescued in the next five minutes, she risks losing consciousness.
16:56Drowning would then be inevitable.
17:05Towards the stern of the ship, Teresa's parents also struggle against the cold.
17:1235 minutes after the Herald capsizes, Coast Guard helicopters help pick up survivors.
17:18Rescue ships continue to arrive.
17:22Local divers turn up to offer help.
17:24It's extremely dangerous to dive inside an unstable ship, but they know they are the survivors' only chance.
17:33Belgian Piet Lagaste is a diver from a local salvage company.
17:37He makes his way through floating bodies and debris, calling out to people in the darkened ship.
17:46With the lights, we saw that the people in the water were moving.
17:51We also saw people in the water who were motionless, who had probably died,
17:55but we went for the people who were moving, who put up their arms or called.
17:59Because you know these people are still alive.
18:05Further along Seadek, Simon Osborne is all alone.
18:08His friends are nowhere to be seen.
18:12All around him, silence has fallen.
18:18There were these people shouting, screaming, and as the time went on, it became less and less.
18:27A diver reaches an exhausted and frozen Michael and Maureen Bennett.
18:34Rescuers throw a rope down to them.
18:37They're just in time.
18:40As they pull Maureen up to safety, she loses consciousness.
18:51Michael Reynolds is trapped behind a glass partition.
18:54He hears rescuers in the distance, but they can't see him.
18:58And then, a glimmer of hope.
19:02A rescuer appears on the other side of the glass.
19:06And he threw himself onto the glass a few times.
19:09And eventually, the glass shattered.
19:17Now, an exhausted Simon Osborne hears glass breaking.
19:21Realising rescuers may be close, he swims towards the noise.
19:24Hello? Is anyone alive?
19:26Hello? Is anyone alive?
19:27Then one of the divers spots him.
19:34It was on being pulled out of the ferry that I kind of let go.
19:37And it was a dreadful, dreadful, dreadful state of shock.
19:40You know, I was in deep, deep shock.
19:50It's two and a half hours since the Herald capsized.
19:54Divers are still finding survivors.
19:58But dead bodies are starting to outnumber the living.
20:0511.30
20:08Diver Pete Lagasse has now been on the Herald of Free Enterprise for four and a half hours
20:16He's losing all hope of finding any more survivors
20:21On shore, 35 ambulances rush the wounded to nearby hospitals
20:28Just hours earlier, Maureen and Michael Bennett were celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary
20:34They now lie side by side in a hospital ward with serious injuries
20:41Maureen is frantic with worry about her missing 20-year-old daughter, Teresa
20:46I still was worrying where the heaven with Teresa was
20:49I just couldn't get that out of my mind
20:52Where was she? Where was she?
20:582.45 a.m., more than eight hours since the capsized
21:04Now the tide starts to rise rapidly
21:08It creates dangerous currents inside the ship
21:13Rescuers must suspend diving until dawn and the ebb tide
21:17Any hope of finding any more survivors disappears
21:22Many friends and families separated during the capsize learned their loved ones did not survive
21:33Others face an agonizing wait for news
21:37It's been eight hours since the capsize and Maureen has no idea if her missing daughter, Teresa, has survived
21:47She repeatedly asks hospital staff and reporters if there's any word
21:54Then the hospital chaplain arrives with news
21:58I have good news, I've just heard that she's alive, she's alive
22:03Like she's alive, she's alive
22:06Teresa is, Teresa
22:07Thank God
22:11I was so pleased, I cried, and we were so, so pleased
22:17Against all the odds, Teresa survived for an hour in the freezing water
22:23She has serious injuries, but makes a full recovery
22:27Her boyfriend, Mark, was also rescued in time
22:32News of the disaster flashes around the globe
22:35Drama at sea
22:36A massive rescue effort is underway tonight off the coast of Belgium
22:40As hundreds of passengers aboard a capsized ferry boat
22:43Are missing in frigid waters of the English Channel
22:48The scale of the disaster shocks the world
22:55Early reports put the death toll at 150
22:58Making it the worst peacetime British maritime accident
23:01Since the sinking of the Titanic in 1912
23:10As dawn breaks, stories emerge of miraculous survival
23:13And heroic actions by passengers and crew
23:18One man acts as a human bridge so that others can escape
23:27A truck driver rescues a five-year-old girl whose whole family are lost
23:40The disaster is unimaginable
23:43How could a modern 8,000-tonne vessel, sailing in perfect conditions
23:48Capsize in only 90 seconds, just over a kilometre out of port
23:53As the herald is a British vessel
23:55The UK government's Department of Transport hires the investigators
24:03Ian Dan, one of Britain's leading naval architects
24:06Has been investigating marine accidents for 32 years
24:11The scale of this tragedy shocks him
24:14I think this was one of the worst disasters that I've ever had anything to deal with
24:18Because there were people who had walked on board that ferry
24:21And within 20 minutes of the ferry leaving port
24:24They were fighting for their lives
24:26Dan must find out exactly what happened on the night of March 6
24:30To ensure that such a catastrophe never happens again
24:37Now, by rewinding the events of that fateful night
24:40And by going deep into the investigation
24:42We can reveal what really caused the Herald of Free Enterprise to capsize
24:49Advanced computer simulation will take us where no camera can go
24:53Into the heart of the disaster zone
24:59The day after the tragedy
25:01Investigators take a boat out to the capsized Herald
25:05It's a shocking sight
25:07The ship appears to be intact
25:10On the ship's visible side
25:12They see no immediate sign of collision or damage
25:15But what they see at the Herald's bow
25:18Astounds them
25:22The huge bow doors that allow vehicles on and off the ferry
25:25Are wide open
25:27It's clear to the investigators
25:29That water must have poured through these gaping doors
25:36The media dub the open bow doors
25:38The doors of death
25:42Ian Dan's team need to find out why the doors are open
25:49We thought at the time that perhaps she might have hit something
25:52Which would have caused her to capsize
25:53Or she could possibly have got very close to one bank or other
25:57Of the approach channel to Zbrugge
25:59The team know that the Herald came to rest on a sandbar
26:03About one kilometer from the harbor entrance
26:07There are several of these underwater obstructions just outside Zbrugge
26:13To avoid them
26:14Ships follow a marked channel 900 meters wide
26:17That port authorities keep clear by constant dredging
26:23So did the Herald collide with the sandbar
26:25Causing fatal damage to her bow doors
26:30Investigators discover that the Zbrugge port authority
26:33Routinely tracks all ferries by radar
26:35Up to about three kilometers from the harbor
26:41It shows the Herald going off course in her final moments
26:44But the radar data reveals that she doesn't hit the sandbar
26:50In fact, as she capsizes, she settles onto it
26:55The ship veers off course
26:57Because she was already in trouble
27:04The sandbar is not her nemesis, but her savior
27:07It stops the ship turning turtle
27:09Saving many lives
27:16Investigators realize the theory that the bow doors were damaged by a collision is a dead end
27:27They interview port authority personnel on duty the night of the disaster
27:31It gives them a new lead
27:34Port controller Guido de Ruder relates a strange report he received from the captain of the dredge sanderos
27:4020 minutes after the Herald left port
27:44They told me that he could see lights
27:46And he thought that the bow doors were still open
27:49That he could see cars and tracks through the bow doors
27:53It's staggering news
27:57It appears to investigators that the Herald actually left port and set out to sea
28:02Without closing her bow doors
28:08How could this happen?
28:11To find out, they questioned surviving crew members who worked on the car deck that night
28:21They learned that it's the job of first officer Leslie Sable to supervise the loading of vehicles
28:27It's also his responsibility to get the Herald loaded swiftly
28:31So that it can depart on time
28:34If he fails, he could be reprimanded by his bosses
28:40It was such a difficult market to make a lot of money in
28:43And of course, one got commercial success by turning the vessels around very quickly
28:5130 minutes to disaster
28:52The team discover that tonight, Sable is under pressure
28:58The cheap ticket deal means the car deck will be full
29:08As the last car rolls onto the ship
29:11The call is announced for harbour stations
29:16All stations, all stations
29:17Herald a free enterprise about to leave the harbour
29:20OCEF Atlas
29:21This is the signal for crew to go to their positions for departure
29:25Lee Cornelius' final duty on the car deck
29:28Is to put a safety chain across the bow doors
29:35First officer Leslie Sable hurries to the bridge
29:38They're now five minutes behind schedule
29:41He is the last to leave the lower deck
29:49Harbour stations is also the signal to close the bow doors
29:53Using a hydraulic control lever on the car deck
29:59Investigators discover the responsibility for this crucial job
30:02Falls to assistant bosun Mark Stanley
30:08But when they question Mark Stanley about his actions that night
30:12They're in for a shock
30:15When he should be on the car deck closing the bow doors
30:18Mark Stanley is still asleep in his cabin
30:22He took a nap after the ship docked in Zeebrugge
30:25But slept through the call for harbour stations
30:37But the investigators are puzzled
30:40Why does no other crew member notice that the bow doors are wide open
30:44And raise the alarm
30:46They learn that who closes the doors and when
30:49Is a hit and miss affair
30:50As crew member Lee Cornelius recalls
30:55Sometimes when we left and completed loading
30:57One of the guys on the main deck would shut the bow doors
31:02But that night we didn't
31:03We just left them open
31:05And expected Mark to come and shut them when we'd finished
31:09The bow doors are left open
31:11Because the assistant bosun is asleep
31:13And on this night no one else does the job for him
31:21The investigators find that there is no fail-safe system for closing the bow doors
31:26Although it's Mark Stanley's job to shut them
31:29It should be double-checked by First Officer Leslie Sable
31:34But in the race to stay on schedule
31:36It was normal practice for the First Officer to leave the car deck
31:40Before the doors were closed
31:45The officer who wants to have done this checking
31:47Had to also at that time be on the bridge
31:50So he had to be in two places at once
31:52Which of course was impossible
31:53Dan and his team discover another major flaw in the system
31:59The captain cannot easily see the bow doors from the bridge
32:05So unless a crew member tells him otherwise
32:07He automatically assumes they are closed
32:1723 minutes to disaster
32:20Captain Lurie backs out of berth 12
32:24He's totally unaware that no one has closed the 5 meter bow doors on the car deck
32:35It's clear to investigators that a combination of human error and poor systems
32:39Causes the Herald to sail with her bow doors open
32:45But this shocking discovery still doesn't solve the mystery of the Herald's capsize
32:52One of the big puzzles was how so much water could get onto the vehicle deck
33:07It would take thousands of tons of water to capsize a ship the size of the Herald
33:13But the bow doors to her car deck
33:15Are sighted nearly three and a half meters above the water line
33:20Investigators suspect that in calm seas
33:22They should be well beyond the reach of any waves
33:29Then they discover that four years before
33:31The Herald's sister ship set sail from Dover
33:33With her bow doors open
33:39And yet she survived without incident
33:45It confirms their suspicions
33:47Even with her doors open
33:49The Herald should have made it safely across the channel
33:53So why didn't she?
34:04Investigator Ian Dand starts to explore
34:07What could reduce the clearance between bow doors and water line
34:15He discovers that the short loading ramp at Zebrugge causes a problem
34:23It's not long enough to reach the Herald's upper car deck
34:28So Captain Lurie must fill a ballast tank in the bow with seawater
34:32To lower the Herald to the right level
34:39This makes the ship sit one meter lower in the water at the bow
34:44The operation reduces the clearance between bow doors and water line
34:47To 2.5 meters
34:53Zebrugge harbor is relatively shallow
34:55Just 15.5 meters deep
35:01Dand has a hunch that this plays a role
35:08As the ship sails
35:09Her movement creates low pressure under the hull
35:12That sucks the bow downward
35:16In deep water
35:17The effect is small
35:18But when Dan runs tests
35:20He discovers the effect is much greater in shallow water
35:23As the water is forced through the narrow gap between ship and seabed
35:27It rushes out from under the hull faster
35:30This surge of water
35:31Creates an area of low pressure under the ship
35:34Dragging it down even further
35:36As the Herald sails on March 6th
35:38The clearance between her open bow doors and the water line
35:41Is just 1.5 meters
35:45Sailing in this condition would be risky
35:47But investigators are not convinced
35:49It would be enough to cause the capsize
35:56So how did so much water
35:58Get onto the Herald's car deck
36:01There's only one way for them to find out
36:06Birth 12, Zebrugger Harbor, May 10, 1987
36:11Nine weeks after the loss of the Herald
36:13Ian Dand begins a crucial experiment aboard her sister ship
36:16The Pride of Free Enterprise
36:20He is set to restage the Herald's final, fateful journey
36:26The Pride is identical to the Herald
36:29She's weighted with the same amount of ballast
36:32The weather and tidal conditions are the same
36:37The Pride maneuvers through Zebrugger Harbor
36:39At a normal departure speed of 10 to 15 knots
36:44Her bow doors stand 1.5 meters clear of the water line
36:47Just like the Herald
36:51As she sails
36:52She creates a wave at the bow
36:54But it breaks well below the bow doors
36:59Next, Dan wants to see how high the bow wave gets
37:02As the ship accelerates
37:05A bank of video cameras capture the wave from every angle
37:14At 16.9 knots
37:16The wave crests safely below the bow doors
37:19Rolling away from the ship
37:24Then, Dan instructs the skipper to increase the speed
37:30The ship is now sailing at 17.4 knots
37:35The acceleration has an immediate effect
37:42Not only does the bow wave increase
37:44But it also changes direction
37:47Instead of rolling forwards
37:49The wave splashes back, up, towards the bow doors
37:54Compelling, but not conclusive
37:56The wave is only 2.5 meters
37:58Still not big enough to flood the car deck
38:01Dan believes the Herald was sailing faster when she left port
38:04He ups the speed half a knot
38:06To 18 knots
38:08The maximum permitted speed
38:16Suddenly, the wave balloons wildly
38:19It is now almost 4 meters high
38:22Big enough to engulf the bow doors
38:29On the Herald, water would be cascading straight onto the car deck
38:34I was horrified to see the amount of water
38:36That came over the bow of the Herald
38:39And the full-scale trial
38:41Dan is an experienced naval architect
38:44But he has never seen a bow wave behave in this way
38:48He turns to computer and physical models
38:50To try to explain the phenomenon
38:52And he finds that once again
38:54The shallow waters of Sebrugge's harbor
38:56Hold the key
38:59Like all ships
39:00The Herald throws up a bigger bow wave in shallow water
39:03Than she does in deep water
39:07It's called shallow water effect
39:11The effect gradually becomes greater
39:13As the ship increases her speed
39:17But the models confirm
39:18That when the Herald reaches 18 knots
39:21It triggers a step change
39:24There is a huge leap in the size of the bow wave
39:32Just half a knot of extra speed
39:34Combined with Sebrugge's shallow harbor
39:36Makes the critical difference
39:39Of course one of the big tragedies of the Herald
39:41Is had it not been in that comparatively shallow water
39:44Coming out of Sebrugge
39:46It might have got away with having the bow doors open
39:49For quite a long period of time
39:50And people might have spotted that they were open and closed them
39:53Instead, the bow wave of almost 4 meters surges straight through the open doors
40:03Dan calculates that 2,000 tons of water
40:06Flood under the Herald's car deck in about 30 seconds
40:09Even this much water shouldn't sink such a large ship
40:13What is the fatal weakness in the Herald's design
40:16That makes her capsize in just 90 seconds?
40:22Investigator Ian Dand has proved that 2,000 tons of water
40:26Flooded under the Herald's car deck
40:29He knows that even this much water
40:31Shouldn't be enough to sink a large ship
40:36That's because traditionally
40:37Ships are divided into watertight compartments
40:40Below the waterline
40:43But the Herald's design is different
40:47She has a huge open car deck
40:49With no dividing walls
40:51So vehicles can easily drive on and off
40:53It allows quick turnarounds at port
40:55In what is a highly competitive market
40:58But the Herald's greatest commercial strength
41:00Ends up being her downfall
41:09Investigators calculate
41:10That with 2,000 tons of water
41:12Rushing around her car deck
41:13The Herald would become unstable very quickly
41:21As the Herald sails
41:23She naturally rocks from side to side
41:25The water surges to the lowest point
41:27Making the ship tilt
41:29At first
41:30The ship's huge buoyancy
41:31Allows her to recover
41:34Water is rather an unstable entity
41:37And would rush to one side or the other
41:39Of the vehicle deck
41:41Acting like a sort of pendulum
41:42If you like
41:44With each swing
41:45The water surges more violently
41:47Causing the ship to tilt more steeply
41:49Eventually the ship reaches a point
41:52Where she's unable to recover
42:02Free and Dan and his team
42:04It's the final crucial piece of evidence
42:08Now they can piece together
42:10The precise chain of events
42:11That left the passengers and crew
42:12Of the Herald of Free Enterprise
42:15Seconds from disaster
42:18Four minutes to disaster
42:20Unaware that the bow doors are wide open
42:22Captain Lurie ups the Herald's speed
42:24Half a knot to 18 knots
42:27In the shallow water of Seybrugge's harbour
42:30This makes the bow wave dramatically bigger
42:33Ninety seconds to disaster
42:35Two thousand tons of water
42:37Flood the ship's open car deck
42:42Sixty seconds to disaster
42:44As the water surges across the car deck
42:46Passengers feel a violent lurch
42:50Now the wave starts to carry
42:52Cars and trucks with it
42:57Thirty seconds to disaster
43:00The ship tilts
43:01Thirty degrees to the left
43:04It's the point
43:05Of no return
43:10The ship turns on her side
43:12To lie half submerged
43:13In the icy waters
43:14Of the North Sea
43:19Seven weeks after the tragedy
43:21Salvage tugs tow the Herald to port
43:27The final death toll is 193
43:30Including 38 crew members
43:34The investigator's final report
43:36Finds that the Herald's loss
43:37Is largely down to human error
43:42Captain David Lurie
43:43Is suspended for a year
43:44First officer Leslie Sable
43:47For two years
43:48And the man who failed to close the bow doors
43:50Assistant bosun Mark Stanley
43:52Is found seriously negligent
43:54But escapes further punishment
43:58The report finds that ultimately
44:00Poor management by the Herald's owner
44:02Townsend Torefsson is to blame
44:05The British Department of Transport
44:07Hits the company
44:08With a £400,000 fine
44:13For survivors like Simon Osborne
44:15The night on the Herald of Free Enterprise
44:17Still casts a long shadow
44:20The worst aspect of the whole thing
44:22Was losing my two friends
44:25You don't expect to lose
44:27Two close friends at that age
44:29I had to meet their parents
44:31And talk to them about the day
44:32That we'd had
44:32You know
44:33I had to go to their funerals
44:34And memorial service
44:36They were just
44:37They were just emotionally draining
44:40Experiences for
44:41An 18, 19 year old guy
44:45Survivors Michael and Maureen Bennett
44:47Find the disaster has transformed
44:49Their outlook on life
44:51If we want to go down the beach
44:52We go today
44:53We don't go tomorrow
44:54Because tomorrow never comes
44:56It nearly never came for us
44:58On that ferry
44:59So we do things
45:01When we want to do them
45:02Now
45:03Their daughter Teresa too
45:04Knows how close the family
45:06Came to tragedy
45:08There wasn't many families
45:10Where all of them went
45:11And all of them came back
45:13So we are really lucky to be alive
45:18The disaster led to a major rethink
45:20Of safety measures
45:21On British car ferries
45:24Closed circuit TV cameras
45:26Now allow captains
45:27To see the bow doors
45:28From the bridge
45:30And indicators also tell them
45:32When the doors are closed
45:36Shipping companies
45:36Must modify their vessels
45:38To improve stability
45:39With features such as
45:40Dividing bulkheads
45:41It means that if a ship
45:43Takes on water
45:44It must be able to survive
45:45For at least 30 minutes
45:46Without capsizing
45:48The Herald of Free Enterprise Disaster
45:51Was a wake-up call
45:52To the maritime industry
45:53The safety regulations
45:55It prompted
45:55Have set a new high standard
45:57For the world to follow
46:02And that means that we will look for
46:03To theÁتkit
46:03The seems
46:03But now
46:17It seems to wear
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