Time flies !!!
It is already 25 years since that terrible event. Below is a tribute to those that perished.
Taken from msn news.
And here is a picture of the salvage effort that I took whilst shipping out…
GS.
The amount of people who "just missed " that ferry is unbelievable. If they had all caught it , the ferry would have sunk anyway with overloading. For the record I was in Austria when it went down,and no where near it.
Is it really that long ago, I did’nt ‘‘just miss it’’ but I sailed on it 12hrs previous then saw it on the telly when I got home; I did get a few phone calls to see if I was ok as I was on the way back from Greece and there was a black F12 similar to mine shown on the news pictures. Unfortunately though I did know two of the drivers who died on it, Neil who drove for Cavewoods and Chris who drove a Merc on regular Greece and had had a tragic accident a few months previously near Lamia in which his son died when he was hit head on by a Greek Volvo 8 wheel tipper.
Hi we were no where near that ferry when it went down, but I have been told that a Scania I owned had been on it, apparently someone went to buy it from Brian Palmer from Ipswich way, may have been make believe but we had no problems with it whilst we ran it to Europe! Can anyone confirm or deny this■■?
By the way we fitted the high roof.
ainacs:
Hi we were no where near that ferry when it went down, but I have been told that a Scania I owned had been on it, apparently someone went to buy it from Brian Palmer from Ipswich way, may have been make believe but we had no problems with it whilst we ran it to Europe! Can anyone confirm or deny this■■?By the way we fitted the high roof.
I was also not on the phenomenal waiting list for the “Herald” but did ship on it the previous day returning from Hilter near Osnabruck with a load of margerine for Adams foods at Radlett when subbing for Guy Marshall (Newpark Transport Services) of Wotton Bassett ,I had an F12 Globetrotter D905 SHR . After tipping on the Friday morning I reloaded with hanging meat for Rungis and on arriving home at night saw the horrific spectacle on the “Idiots Lantern News” I discovered later that a friend of mine, Mick Jenkins , who was driving for W A Stallard from Upton on Severn , was on board . Fortunately he survived and later received a bravery award for saving the lives of several passengers.
There was a driver that lived near to us at the time that was on the ship and survived. However the trauma of losing so many friends took it’s toll and after a few years of stress and depression he took his own life. Jumped off a motorway bridge above the M62 eastbound inbetween juncs 26 and 27. I can’t remember his name or who he worked for but it was a sad end.
Remember it clearly. I lived in Folkestone and it seems everybody in the Folkestone/Dover area knew someone on it. A most strange & sombre atmosphere in the local pub that Friday night.
RIP
I listened to the tragedy blow by blow driving up the M1 that evening. As a regular ferry passenger I was in tears as the death toll came in.
One year later I was on the Spirirt leaving Calais at the identical time the Herald had left Zeebrugge the year before. We had a two minute silence on board as we left the port. That was spooky and not a dry eye to be seen!
rocky 7:
I have met thousands 
ainacs:
Hi we were no where near that ferry when it went down, but I have been told that a Scania I owned had been on it, apparently someone went to buy it from Brian Palmer from Ipswich way, may have been make believe
I seem to remember a company from Colchester bought the wrecked trucks, done them up and sold them to unwitting hauliers, big piece in one of the red tops And tv news reports back in the day.
Funny enough someone told me something similar some one he knew bought a motor and someone freaked out as it had been his brothers and he had been on the boat.
Never realy took much notice when he said it was either a scania or a transcontinental
my uncle ernie frost had the only iveco 220/38 in the uk that developed engine trouble these engines were genrally bomb proof.turned out this was an ex herald truck and been in the sea
kr79:
Funny enough someone told me something similar some one he knew bought a motor and someone freaked out as it had been his brothers and he had been on the boat.
Never realy took much notice when he said it was either a scania or a transcontinental
iirc it was a scania that featured in the newspaper article, think it was a white 112 which belonged to Ferryline
It is true.I remember them all lined up down the Hythe quay in Colchester awaiting repair.
LeeJ:
There was a driver that lived near to us at the time that was on the ship and survived. However the trauma of losing so many friends took it’s toll and after a few years of stress and depression he took his own life. Jumped off a motorway bridge above the M62 eastbound inbetween juncs 26 and 27. I can’t remember his name or who he worked for but it was a sad end.
if that’s the lad from queensbury his name was Joe - can’t remember his surname at the moment but he was an owner driver I think. very sad hearing what happened after he survived the sinking 
i know there’s masses of ■■■■■■■■ spoken about the HoFE, but we should all remember almost 200 souls lost their lives that night
jj72:
LeeJ:
There was a driver that lived near to us at the time that was on the ship and survived. However the trauma of losing so many friends took it’s toll and after a few years of stress and depression he took his own life. Jumped off a motorway bridge above the M62 eastbound inbetween juncs 26 and 27. I can’t remember his name or who he worked for but it was a sad end.if that’s the lad from queensbury his name was Joe - can’t remember his surname at the moment but he was an owner driver I think. very sad hearing what happened after he survived the sinking
RIP all that lost there life that day
ainacs:
Hi we were no where near that ferry when it went down, but I have been told that a Scania I owned had been on it, apparently someone went to buy it from Brian Palmer from Ipswich way, may have been make believe but we had no problems with it whilst we ran it to Europe! Can anyone confirm or deny this■■?By the way we fitted the high roof.
That was me Pat, it had been re-upholstered and it set alarm bells ringing, a bit of digging revealed that Paltruck had some from the HOFE, so apart from the brief test drive around Ipswich (which was fine BTW) I never got to drive it 
I did my first ‘proper’ trip over the water the week the Helard went down, shipped in and out of Oostende, heard the news when I got back to the dock and saw it lying on its side on the return crossing, a very sad sight
There’s a monument to the people that lost their lives on the A2 by the second roundabout out of the dock (3rd if you count the one at the bottom of the hill) they planted a tree for every life lost, there’s a lot of trees there
newmercman:
ainacs:
Hi we were no where near that ferry when it went down, but I have been told that a Scania I owned had been on it, apparently someone went to buy it from Brian Palmer from Ipswich way, may have been make believe but we had no problems with it whilst we ran it to Europe! Can anyone confirm or deny this■■?By the way we fitted the high roof.
That was me Pat, it had been re-upholstered and it set alarm bells ringing, a bit of digging revealed that Paltruck had some from the HOFE, so apart from the brief test drive around Ipswich (which was fine BTW) I never got to drive it
I did my first ‘proper’ trip over the water the week the Helard went down, shipped in and out of Oostende, heard the news when I got back to the dock and saw it lying on its side on the return crossing, a very sad sight
There’s a monument to the people that lost their lives on the A2 by the second roundabout out of the dock (3rd if you count the one at the bottom of the hill) they planted a tree for every life lost, there’s a lot of trees there
Thanks Newmercman for confirming that mate
Regards Pat
newmercman:
ainacs:
Hi we were no where near that ferry when it went down, but I have been told that a Scania I owned had been on it, apparently someone went to buy it from Brian Palmer from Ipswich way, may have been make believe but we had no problems with it whilst we ran it to Europe! Can anyone confirm or deny this■■?By the way we fitted the high roof.
That was me Pat, it had been re-upholstered and it set alarm bells ringing, a bit of digging revealed that Paltruck had some from the HOFE, so apart from the brief test drive around Ipswich (which was fine BTW) I never got to drive it
I did my first ‘proper’ trip over the water the week the Helard went down, shipped in and out of Oostende, heard the news when I got back to the dock and saw it lying on its side on the return crossing, a very sad sight
There’s a monument to the people that lost their lives on the A2 by the second roundabout out of the dock (3rd if you count the one at the bottom of the hill) they planted a tree for every life lost, there’s a lot of trees there
To Oostende not Zeebrugge? 
Yes that’s right, I shipped in and out of Oostende, not Zeebrugge, I never came closer than seeing it lying on its side, it fell over while I was in Heidelberg, so I ain’t one of the ‘just missed it gang’