The Marchioness Disaster 

Crimes That Shook Britain S05E05 The Marchioness

On August 20, 1989, a pleasure boat, called the Marchioness, was filled with
130 partygoers celebrating the 26th birthday of Antonio de Vasconcellos, a
city banker.  

Just before 2 am, less than 40 minutes from boarding, an 18-meter dredger
collided with the Marchioness, and the second blow ended up overturning the
smaller vessel. The Marchioness sank within a minute of the impact.
Emergency units were deployed to the scene at once, but sadly 51 people
were reported dead after being pulled from the water. Some were discovered
eight miles away days later. Antonio de Vasconcellos was one of the
casualties.

At the time, it was decided that facial verification would be too traumatic for
the victims’ families, and so the coroner, Dr. Paul Knapman, decided to cut off
the hands of 25 victims for identification purposes. This information only came
to light in 1992, when it was discovered that the families had not given
permission to do so.

There was no immediate public inquiry, but in 2000, an official inquiry stated
that poor lookouts on both vessels were responsible for the accident. The
captain of the dredger had not even known that the collision had taken place
and therefore didn’t assist in the rescue. He was ultimately acquitted of any
wrongdoings in 1991.