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A rose for each Marchioness victim
Peter Dominiczak21 Aug 2009
Families united by two decades of grief marked the 20th anniversary of the Marchioness riverboat disaster at an emotional ceremony.
They attended a service at Southwark Cathedral, where the names of all 51 people who died were read out.
The evensong service yesterday included the laying of wreathes on the Marchioness memorial stone in the cathedral, near the stretch of the Thames where the Marchioness pleasure boat collided with the dredger Bowbelle and sank on 20 August, 1989.
Earlier, some of the bereaved watched the symbolic laying of 51 red roses on the water near the accident site. The day of remembrance at Southwark began with requiem masses at which the names of the dead were also read out. Reading those names at lunchtime was Odette Penwarden, 62, who survived the sinking but lost five friends.
Ms Penwarden, of Beckton, east London, laid a wreath on behalf of survivors and said: "I have had 20 extra years because I should have died that night. I have tried to live those 20 years for those who did not survive and I often wonder what they would have done with their lives." A wreath was also placed on behalf of the bereaved families by Margaret Lockwood Croft, 70, whose son, Sean, 26, died.
Another of the dead was Marchioness skipper Stephen Faldo, 29, whose mother, Molly Faldo and sisters Jackie, 48, and Vicki, 41, laid roses on the cathedral memorial which bears the words "Many waters cannot quench love".
The Marchioness was packed with 130 partygoers celebrating the 26th birthday of Cambridge graduate Antonio de Vasconcellos when the collision occurred at 2am. Victims included Francesca Dallaglio, 19, sister of England rugby captain Lawrence. An inquiry blamed poor lookouts on both boats and criticised the Bowbelle captain.
