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The Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off the coast of Belgium, en route to England in 1987, with the loss of 193 lives.
The Townsend Thoresen ship had just left the port of Zeebrugge when she capsized, on the evening of 6th March 1987. Water entered the car ferry’s bow doors, causing her to sink only 90 seconds after leaving the harbour.
A public enquiry into the disaster exposed a culture of corporate neglect at every level, when it confirmed that the Herald of Free Enterprise had left Zeebrugge carrying extra water in her ballast tanks and with the bow doors to the car deck still open.
The ferry company was charged with corporate manslaughter two years after the disaster and seven individual employees were also charged with manslaughter, though the case eventually collapsed during legal proceedings.
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