30 Seconds of Terror: The Sinking of the Marchioness
August 19th 1989, a balmy summer evening, and a young Portuguese Banker and Cambridge graduate, Antonio de Vasconcellos, is hosting a party for his 26th birthday on the pleasure boat, Marchioness. Most of his guests are also in their early twenties. It’s a savvy entrepreneurial crowd of fashion designers, models, journalists, and financiers. On board the cruise, Antonio’s party boasts all the excesses of the decade– blaring music, disco lights, and 131 guests. They’re ready to dance on the Thames until six in the morning - but just behind them rears the front end of a huge, ugly dredger and it is bearing down with speed. Antonio's party was meant to be a celebration, but it became one of Britain’s worst peacetime maritime disasters - not a tragedy on the open ocean but one in full view of the public in one of the largest cities on earth. The horrifying accident was bad enough - but the course of the investigation and the actions of the authorities would cement the Marchioness as a tragedy that remains just as painful today as it did 37 years ago. Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest vessels– from Titanic to Queen Mary and from the Empress of Ireland to the Lusitania. Join maritime researcher and illustrator Michael Brady as he tells the stories behind some of history's most famous ocean liners and machines! Click the link to subscribe | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsE8PTncfn2Vga48jH46HnQ?sub_confirmation=1 #ships #sinking #disaster #titanic #wrecks #exploration #history #adventure #design #engineering #mairitime #safety #vessels #sailing #documentary #story #oceanlinerdesigns