long and at the beam; her deadweight tonnage was and she measured 1,474.72 gross tons. Bowbelle was one of six "Bow" ships owned by East Coast Aggregates Limited; they were managed by South Coast Shipping Company Limited. East Coast Aggregates Limited (ECA) was part of the larger RMC Group, a concrete products company. Bowbelle had a crew of nine: a master, two mates, three engineers, two able seamen and a cook. The ship's captain, Douglas Henderson, aged 31, undertook a Deep Sea apprenticeship until 1978 and joined ECA in November 1987, when he became second mate on Bowsprite. In May 1989 he became the master of Bowbelle. Vessels from ECA, including Bowbelle, had previously been involved in accidents on the Thames. In July 1981 there was a collision between Bowtrader and the passenger launch Pride of Greenwich; three months later Bowtrader was involved in a collision with Hurlingham, another pleasure cruiser owned by Tidal Cruises. Bowbelle collided with Cannon Street railway bridge in May 1982 and, the following month, was nearly in a collision with a passenger boat. At the time of the collision with Marchioness, Bowbelle was carrying aggregate and was trimmed down at the stern; this, along with the dredging equipment, limited the forward vision from the bridge. On 19 August 1989 Henderson visited several public houses over a period of three and a half hours and drank six pints (3.4 L; 120 imp fl oz) of lager. He returned to the ship at 6:00 pm for food and a short sleep; one of the ship's company, Terence Blayney, who acted as the forward lookout that night, was with Henderson, and drank seven pints over the same period. Jonathan Phang and Antonio de Vasconcellos Marchioness was hired for a party for the night of 19–20 August 1989. It was organised by Jonathan Phang, a photographic agent, to celebrate the 26th birthday of Antonio de Vasconcellos, who worked in a merchant bank. The pair were good friends and business partners in a photographic agency. Phang paid £695 to hire the boat from 1:00 am to 6:00 am, with extra for the hire of the disco, food and drinks. Many of those at the party were also in their twenties; some were former students and others worked in fashion, journalism, modelling and finance. The plan was for Marchioness to go downriver from the Embankment Pier near Charing Cross railway station