Marchioness families welcome lifeboats

The Marchioness sinking claimed 51 lives

Relatives of victims of the Marchioness pleasure boat disaster have welcomed a move to operate lifeboats on the River Thames in London.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institute will provide the three lifeboats, to be manned by trained crews in emergencies.

They will be officially unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on Monday.

Fifty-one people died when the Marchioness sank after colliding with the dredger Bowbelle on the Thames in August 1989.

Eileen Dallaglio: "Major breakthrough"

A spokeswoman for the Marchioness Action Group said: "The group has been actively working to get this vital service established since 1991.

"We consider that this and the other changes will be a fitting memorial to the 51 loved ones who lost their lives that fateful night."

Eileen Dallaglio, who is also a member of the group and lost her 19-year-old daughter in the tragedy said: "This is a major breakthrough because there was nothing there before.

"It is a very dangerous river."

She also called for the drink-drive laws used to punish motorists to be extended to those in charge of boats.

The lifeboats will be co-ordinated from a Port of London Authority operations room.

The coroner who oversaw the team dealing with the Marchioness victims, Dr Paul Knapman, came in for strong criticism for allowing the hands of 25 of the dead to be cut off for fingerprint identification.

In evidence to the disaster inquiry last month, he apologised for the distress caused to the victims' families.