Justice for lost seafarers: Lord Prescott's contribution

Lord Prescott was instrumental in working alongside the Derbyshire Family Association, Nautilus International, the ITF and other organisations to achieve justice for those who died onboard MV Derbyshire, the largest British merchant vessel ever lost at sea, and improve safety for today's seafarers. Rob Coston looks at his contribution

On 9 September 1980, during Typhoon Orchid, the ore/bulk/oil combination carrier MV Derbyshire sank in the Pacific Ocean while sailing from Canada to Japan with a cargo of iron ore. All 44 people onboard – 42 seafarers and two officers' wives – were lost. The vessel was registered in Liverpool and more than a third of the crew were from the city.

The Derbyshire was only four years old, had an experienced master and crew, and was classed A1 by Lloyd’s Register. With no distress call, no wreckage, and no survivors, the government ruled out an investigation as impractical.

However, the MNAOA (Nautilus International's predecessor union), the NUS (now RMT) and relatives of those who died were disturbed by evidence that Derbyshire's sister ships were suffering from cracks in their deck plating – and that design modifications, in which longitudinal girders had been terminated close to the superstructure, had compromised the structural integrity of the vessels. The Derbyshire Family Association (DFA) was formed by relatives of those lost to lobby for a formal investigation.

It was only after one of the sister ships, the Kowloon Bridge, went aground off the coast of Ireland in 1986 that the government finally agreed to a public inquiry into the loss of the Derbyshire. However, the Derbyshire families were outraged when the enquiry found that ‘the Derbyshire was probably overwhelmed by the forces of nature in typhoon Orchid, possibly after getting beam on to wind and sea… the evidence available does not support any firmer conclusion’ – believing that evidence from the sister ships had been ignored.

ITF locates the wreck

Lord Prescott, a supporter of the DFA’s cause, became a key figure in achieving a second inquiry and uncovering what had really happened.

The DFA and others, including Liverpool MP Eddie Loyden and academics from Brunel University, continued to bring attention to issues with the vessel’s sister ships. In 1990 a petition calling for a second inquiry, organised by the DFA and signed by 47,000 people, was presented to the House of Commons and the prime minister, but without result.

On 29 May 1994, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) funded and organised an ambitious search for the Derbyshire – coordinated by current Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson, who was a member of the ITF secretariat at the time. The Derbyshire was found after just 23 hours.

Merchant ships are now built to higher standards, following 21 recommendations to improve ship safety that came out of the inquiry. Many seafarers are safer today thanks to this important piece of maritime history.

Only then did the UK government finally take action. It ordered a second expedition, which took place at a cost of £2.7m during 1997 and 1998 and was described by Lord Prescott at the time as ‘one of the century's greatest feats of underwater detective work’.

More than 135,774 photographs and 200 hours of video footage were taken, and following months of analysis the result was announced – investigators found that the ship had sunk because the lid to a store hatch on the fore deck had been left unsecured. Water had then flooded into the fore part of the ship, breaking through hatch covers and in turn sinking the vessel.

This implied negligence on the part of the crew, which was deeply upsetting to their families.

Exoneration

Lord Prescott, by then deputy prime minister and secretary of state with responsibility for transport, ordered the opening of a second inquiry. In December 1998 he clarified that this would be a full-scale investigation at the High Court, drawing on expert evidence. It began on 5 April 2000 and lasted 54 days.

The inquiry confirmed that the flooding was not caused by crew negligence, but that the mushroom ventilators on the bow had allowed water to flood in, leaving the vessel vulnerable to hatch-breaking wave damage. The crew was completely cleared of blame.

Writing on the 40th anniversary of the disaster, Paul Lambert MBE, chairman of the DFA, said that Lord Prescott was instrumental not only for re-opening the inquiry but also because he ‘allowed the Derbyshire families to choose our own legal and technical team of experts so we, at last, would now be on a level playing field with the other interested parties – we did, and got the best.’

Following this result, Lord Prescott attended a memorial service for the crew in September 2000, putting aside government business and the risk of being targeted by protesting farmers and lorry drivers in order to attend, where he was thanked by the families.

Finally, in September 2018, a memorial garden and bronze memorial sculpture were unveiled at Liverpool parish church to commemorate the sinking. Lord Prescott was invited to open the garden, and spoke during the service, saying: 'The loss of the Derbyshire and her crew caused great grief to the relatives and the community. The remarkable 20-year campaign by the Derbyshire Family Association for the real truth is commemorated in this wonderful garden and its sculpture.'

A lifesaving legacy

The legacy of the second MV Derbyshire inquiry ordered by Lord Prescott lives on – at the time of the disaster, 17 bulk carriers were sinking every year. Thanks in large part to tireless campaigning following the loss of the Derbyshire, significant recommendations to improve ship safety were put in place. Merchant ships are now built to higher standards, following 21 recommendations to improve ship safety that came out of the inquiry. They can now better withstand weather conditions, meaning that losses are thankfully much lower. Many seafarers are safer today thanks to this important piece of maritime history.