The Perils of the Waves.
From the "Titanic" onwards: the real story behind the world's worst maritime disasters.
This book follows the dramatic and terrifying stories of individual disasters in the words of the participants - the crews, the passengers, the rescuers and the investigators. Why do these horrific maritime accidents continue to happen at such a staggering rate? And why do those who go down to the sea in ships - passengers and crews alike - receive so much less protection than those who fly or travel by railway?
A key factor is the chaos surrounding travel by sea - a situation arising from the lack of effective regulation of the ships themselves and of the crews who sail in them. 'Mayday' exposes the murky underworld of shipowning: the lack of discipline, the sharp operators who conceal the ownership of often disastrously unseaworthy vessels and who employ unqualified, underpaid and badly treated crews recruited from impoverished Third World countries. It also looks at the dangers in different types of ships, the designs of which are know to be flawed: roll-on-roll-off ferries, like the "Herald of Free Enterprise" which sank in 1987, and the "Estonia", which went down eight years later; cruise liners like the "Archille Lauro"; and the giant bulk carriers such as the "Derbyshire", which sank in mysterious circumstances in the Pacific fifteen years ago.
Bringing together the various causes of many major maritime tragedies of the past forty years, 'Mayday' provides a shocking revelation of the dangers faced by sailors, yachtsmen and hapless travellers on the seas.
Contains full colour photographs.
