The Herald of Free Enterprise: How a Routine Ferry Crossing Became One of Britain's Deadliest Peacetime Disasters | Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs
On the night of March 6, 1987, the roll-on/roll-off ferry Herald of Free Enterprise left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge bound for Dover with nearly 500 passengers and crew aboard. Minutes after clearing the harbor, the ship rolled onto its side in shallow water, claiming 193 lives in one of the most consequential maritime disasters of the 20th century.
In...
The Herald of Free Enterprise: How a Routine Ferry Crossing Became One of Britain's Deadliest Peacetime Disasters | Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs
On the night of March 6, 1987, the roll-on/roll-off ferry Herald of Free Enterprise left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge bound for Dover with nearly 500 passengers and crew aboard. Minutes after clearing the harbor, the ship rolled onto its side in shallow water, claiming 193 lives in one of the most consequential maritime disasters of the 20th century.
In this episode of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs, host Rich Napolitano traces the chain of small failures, design flaws, and operational pressures that turned a routine cross-Channel run into catastrophe. Topics discussed include the open bow doors that let the North Sea pour onto the car deck, the free surface effect that capsized the ship in under two minutes, the frantic rescue effort in freezing water, and the Sheen Inquiry that famously diagnosed the ferry operator's culture as suffering from a "disease of sloppiness." This disaster reshaped international maritime safety law and changed RO-RO ferry future designs.
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Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, images, and sources can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.
Original theme music by Sean Sigfried.
https://www.seansigfried.com
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