Ferry victims facing new cash crisis
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• Damaged lorries from the Herald of Free Enterprise are due to be the second lot offered for sale by sealed tender at the end of July. Belgian company Langlois in Ghent (CM, June 25-July 2) should be contacted for details and permission to inspect.
Operators are continuing to experience problems in getting financial settlements for vehicles lost in the disaster. Philippa and Graham Edmonds, who run a small haulage business in Norfolk, lost a 25,000 reefer unit carrying a £25,000 load of resins.
The vehicle, a Ford Transcontinental, had recently had an engine rebuild and had been converted to a 3-axle unit. The Edmonds' insurance company, refused to take these items into account and only paid up E27,000, with nothing for salvage. The Edmonds wrote to the Dover Disaster Fund for help but were told that the Fund could not assist as a credit ratings check on the Edmonds showed the company was still creditworthy.
"Although we're not on the brink of bankruptcy the loss of the truck has hit us very hard," says Edmonds. "Our vehicle was the second lorry to be taken off the Herald and we were originally told that it was in a repairable condition. We didn't replace it for six weeks because of that information, losing a further £1,000 per week."
Townsend Thoresen then demanded the 2170 fare when it asked the Edmonds to go to Zeebrugge to identify the lorry but finally issued free tickets when they refused to pay. El Transport operator, Abets, just up the road from the Edmonds in Norwich, says it is still waiting for payment for three of its trucks lost on Townsend Thoresen's European Gateway when it sank in December 1982.
Tony Abel says the company is claiming E.35,000 compensation for uninsured losses but thinks it will only get a few thousand pounds because marine law allows the company to limit its liability.