Seconds From Disaster - S02E05 - Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster

[paulspydar]

there was actually a group of guys on the ship who went around robbing their fellow passengers of gold, money,other valuables etc etc that terrible night, I find that even more incredible than this accident, !

[Sydnarella]

"But, there's a problem."

[JonnyTainment]

Wow. Exactly 25 years ago. Interesting how the show made no mention of the recording of Let It Be since the accident.

[paulspydar]

@JonnyTainment what is this "let it be" you mentioned? I have tried a quick look but as I expected I get a sea of Beatles results, (sea of , no pun intended BTW) do you have a little more detail please? It would be interesting to me to read some more recent info on this, thanks

[JonnyTainment]

@paulspydar Type "let it be Ferry aid' in the results

[Janeybaby1967]

hiya ,just watched the video, and it really upset me , i rember watching this almost 25yrs ago live on the tv with my mum, we were both shocked and deeply saddened by tragic loss of life, today i read about agirl who lost her family and made me think about that fate full night , so so sad , thinking of you all on the anniversary. xxx

[shannon3059]

im a surviver of this disaster i have to live with the guilt of not being able to save my freind that night and see the faces of the dying , its the 25th anniversary this march the 6th would love to find more survivers if anyone can help could you please leave a message on here thanks

[LONDONCALLING0033]

Hello Debface

You can't blame one person for this accident in the circumstances. Do you think an airplane would take off with a door open cos an air hostess wasn't at her post?

It's a question of poor design and poor management

It also happened at a time when companies were excused for the most ridiculous accidents (Bradford Football and Kings Cross Underground fires for example)

[josssmith]

I was 5 then so a bit young to remember it but I live in Dover and i know my dad, a former policeman based in Dover at the time, had to deal with a lot of bereaved relatives of the dead, he always says his toughest moments in the poilice came in the aftermath of this disaster

[Theaterfreak]

This was terrible. My mother is from Belgium and she and my father would sail Seebrgge-Felixtoowe to visit each other before they married: they had to sail past the hull of the Herald for months until it was removed. My mother says that she has never experienced such a respecful silence as that that fell over the passengers as they sailed past every time. RIP all who died.

[AtheistBrit]

@Theaterfreak I'm sorry your mother had to see that. So sad.

[drgw1982]

Seems like not one person's fault, but a collective. Terrible story.

[Terestrasz]

@drgw1982 That's how a lot of disasters are - ever hear of the Gare de Lyons rail acident? That wasn't just the driver or the passengers who caused the accident. (A passenger pulled the emergency brake)

[greenb1a]

It's stunning that the boat was sailling with the bow doors left wide open and the bridge didn't know about it. No signal light to indicate the state of the doors. This is the ship's design fault not to install such as an important but simple safety feature.

[ThomasClarke101]

it wasn't just the bow doors being open, it was a combination of human error, design flaw and the shallow waters of zeebrugge harbour.

[MrZebrastyle]

14:01 Let the bitch go!!!

[austrorus]

cheapskates, all it needed was a 50$ CCTV camera and a monitor up on the bridge. And for the captain to check if the doors are closed. He is the man in charge, never mind how many sailors or assistants are SUPPOSED to do the job.

[HPlookalike94]

i prefer the original narrarator over this 1

[t0mme1981]

@HPlookalike94: I agree. When I'm being entertained, even if it's about the death of 190 people, I want the narrator to have the right voice. Otherwise I just switch channel.

[Keira318]

@CTTV101 yeah i know i was talking about the new poseidon movie that came out a few years ago(:

[SteffanLlwyd]

'Free Enterprise' can cost a lot of lives

[Keira318]

So this is how they got the idea to make the movie poseidon lol

[Plane60]

is there one documentary about The Koursk ?

[MrAndrinator]

r u fuckin kiddin me? cuz they're five minutes late, hundreds of ppl fuckin died!

[JDD6214]

Uh Question... why don't they put a alarm which sounds if you have engine movement with door unclosed? Then you'd know if you were stupid and didn't shut the door...

[luna1632]

@JDD6214 because common sense dosen't appear to be theses peoples strong point

[Serostern]

Lawsuit, £400.000. Ship, £10.000.000+ Various lawsuits due to loss of life £100.000

Indicator lamp, few hundred feet of wire, microswitch.. £20.

[AVSGUY12]

hang on, BRITAIN'S worst maritime accident! no, it is the Netherlands's worst maritime accident because the ship sank in Zeebrugge!

[DieKolkrabe]

@AVSGUY12 British registered ship though IIRC, the 'Britain's worst maritime accident', refers to the country the ship is flagged in, not where it departs from (i.e. Zebrugge or Belgium)

TT got merged into/bought out by P&O shortly after the sinking. The ship that went down in Bahrain in 2008 (I think it was) was the sister ship to the Herald. Having said that, the ship was (from what's out on the Internet), poorly designed. No way for the bridge to visually see the doors, or any indicators.

[Thebustermann]

@DieKolkrabe Incorrect. Both sister ships to the herald are still sailing and there have been no such problems since.

[DieKolkrabe]

@Thebustermann Then why did the Bahraini media (along with every other media) state that it was the sister ship to the Herald that went down in Bahrain in 2008?

If you can prove that it wasn't the sister ship, be my guest. I have a feeling the Bahrain media/anyone who saw the ship would be able to tell if it was or wasn't the sister ship.

[Thebustermann]

@DieKolkrabe I dont have to prove it. All anyone has to do is look at the wikipedia entry for the herald to find the information needed. Its this sort of misinformation all across the internet that leads to false beliefs.

[colindhowell]

@DieKolkrabe I can't even find anything about a ferry sinking in Bahrain in 2008. The closest I can find is one that went down in the Red Sea in 2006, named al-Salam Boccaccio 98. A British shipping expert who was quoted in the media incorrectly claimed her to be a sister of the Herald. In fact she was a former Italian ferry of similar roll-on/roll-off type but with no other connection to the Herald.

[fidel3be]

@AVSGUY12 Zeebrugge= Belgian territory

[fidel3be]

@AVSGUY12 Zeebrugge= Belgian territory

[FridayNightization]

10:54 acting FAIL!

[MrBlankBarcode]

@FridayNightization

How?

[Lauvreede3003]

@MrBadgerrat you were so damn lucky that day.

That proves rows can come in handy sometimes....

[colinclarke1000]

@smasher3kuk Im from near canterbury..I don't think there were many people in the local area who didn't know of somebody who was connected with the disaster...I knew two..both perished.

[longy230]

real original name for the shallow water kicking up a bigger wave

SHALLOW WATER EFFECT!!!!! dun dun dun

[garfield960]

another episode

[MsPandaNut]

Shouldn't they have more than one person in charge of something as essential as door checking?

[Smasher3kuk]

You are making comments about the whole situation, and i do agree that it was a sad loss of life on this day. A friend of the family was one of the crewmen on this ill fated journey. His name is Leslie Sable and yes he was the first officer on this journey. I may have only be young when this happened but according to my parents who had known him for years, he has never been the same man since. People think about the passengers only but do think about the crew as well. It changed them as well

[SodomGomorrahWaDC]

penisballs

[atomicnortherner]

what modern cars they have used for the 80s... nissan almeara... an LDV van with an 02 plate... no sierra or escort wow this ship was a time machine!

[colinclarke1000]

@debface1987 leaving the bow doors open would have done that yes...have you ever gone through a foot deep puddle in a car? The water builds up in front...with the ships doors open the water would have flooded into the ship very quickly..and. destabilized it in aatter of minutes

[debface1987]

@colinclarke1000 Yeah thats true, just so sad that something so I dunno simple? could do that :(

[colinclarke1000]

@callofdutywawcj1 no captain lewry would have been on the bridge with first officer Leslie sable

[wulitzer12]

i was on board her that night,she went so fast no one had much time to do anything,i remember it like it was yesterday

[shannon3059]

@wulitzer12 hi i was also on the ship that night lost my best freind having been looking for survivors for years , maybe we can chat sometime let me know on here and will give you my e-mail address if you like to chat sometime

[Truthseeker4449]

@Lengas32 I know you have a few shows of Blueprint for Disaster, can you up load some more please?

[Naylte]

Tight schedules, faulty radios,and physics are all responsible for the deaths.

[MrAlvinSinfulSong]

Can you re-upload episode 4?

[callofdutywawcj1]

The captain is the only one in the bridge?

[huntercross14]

haha cameraman fail 30:49

[KubrickFanVids]

"ferry boat" dumb americans...

[debface1987]

UNBELIEVABLE! Something as basic as closing the doors can do all that. That guy must have some weight on his conscience

[AVSGUY12]

@debface1987 that driver has 10 years experience........ more like ten seconds.

[griffy1988]

what mongs to leave doors open its one of the most obvious roles you have to do regardless if you was rushed or not !! Its like not putting a burger in a bun and saying you felt rushed by the customer utter rubbish

[basherofnoggins]

@griffy1988 To be fair, I've done the burger thing before.

[Thebustermann]

@griffy1988 Its obvious to us now, but back then and even before the herald in the early days of cross channel sailings, bow doors were routinely left open to clear the vehicle decks of smoke and fumes. some ships didnt even have completely sealed main decks, some just had ramp arrangements. So we can look back scornfully, and it was a sloppy operation no doubt, but do it whilst understanding the climate that existed. not condoning it, just explaining that safety only improves with accidents.

[griffy1988]

"thankgod teressa is alive" yea dont matter about her poor fella aye ...

[Carbon657]

This is one of those roll on roll off roll over ferries.

[zamroc100]

hmm, well I'm pretty tired, I guess I'll just not do what I get paid to do around here and leave the ferry doors wide open, what could possiblt go wrong ¬_¬

[snakes3425]

With the Herald Disaster I still can't believe that no one on the car deck noticed that the bow doors had been left open until it was too late

[thenprogroup]

this just proves that you shouldn't use motorola wlakie talkies :)

[HuskyKara]

那些冒極大危險救人的潛水員是英雄 !!!

[nexussucksdicks]

@HuskyKara what

[HuskyKara]

@nexussucksdicks Sorry, I type Chinese directly. In English : Those divers are real hero as they risk their life to save people who are trap inside the ferry.