Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/Marchioness disaster/archive1

The pleasure steamer Marchioness sank on 20 August 1989 after being hit by twice by the dredger Bowbelle at about 1:46 am on the River Thames. 130 people were on the pleasure craft, celebrating a birthday party, 51 of whom died. It took thirty seconds for Marchioness to sink; 24 bodies were found within the ship when it was raised. An investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) blamed a lack of lookouts, but their report was criticised by the families of the victims, as the MAIB had not interviewed anyone on Marchioness or Bowbelle, but relied on police interviews. Douglas Henderson, the captain of Bowbelle, was charged with failing to have an effective lookout on the vessel, but two cases against him ended with a hung jury. A private prosecution for manslaughter against the owners of Bowbelle, and corporate manslaughter against the company was dismissed because of lack of evidence. A formal inquiry was finally held in 2000. Its report concluded that the lookouts on both vessels were insufficient. The collision and the subsequent reports led to increased safety measures on the Thames, and four new lifeboat stations were installed on the river.


 * , a (poor) start for you to work off. Feel free to tweak, change or completely re-write if you want to: these sorts of summaries are not my forte at all! Cheers - SchroCat (talk) 20:50, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

I actually just finished working on it in my userspace ... please feel free to mix and match. Btw, I just changed Department of Transport to Department for Transport ... I hope that's right. - Dank (push to talk) 20:52, 31 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I prefer yours! - SchroCat (talk) 22:00, 31 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I've struck mine, just so that anyone else looking in is confused by having two. Cheers - SchroCat (talk) 22:15, 1 April 2019 (UTC)

The Marchioness disaster was a collision between two vessels on the River Thames in London in the early hours of 20 August 1989 that resulted in the deaths of 51 people. The pleasure steamer Marchioness, with about 130 people on board, sank after being hit twice by the dredger Bowbelle. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch blamed a lack of lookouts, but it was criticised by the families of the victims for failing to interview anyone on Marchioness or Bowbelle. A formal inquiry was finally held in 2000; its report concluded that "The basic cause of the collision is clear. It was poor lookout on both vessels. Neither vessel saw the other in time to take action to avoid the collision." Further criticism was also aimed at the owners of both ships, at the Department for Transport and at the Port of London Authority. The collision and the subsequent reports led to increased safety measures on the Thames, and four new lifeboat stations were installed on the river.