MV DERBYSHIRE TRUST FUND

THE PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF LIFE AT SEA, IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY BY THE FOLLOWING MEANS: 1. TO ERECT A STONE MEMORIAL AT THE MERSEY WATERFRONT TO COMMEMORATE THE FORTY-FOUR PERSONS WHO DIED IN THE MV "DERBYSHIRE" AND TO FURTHER THE AWARENESS OF THE PUBLIC TO THE IMPORTANCE OF FORENSICALLY EXAMINING WRECKED VESSELS, NOT JUST TO ASCERTAIN WHY THEY BECAME A CASUALTY, BUT TO SEARCH FOR ANY DEFICIENCY THAT MAY BE HELD BY VESSELS ELSEWHERE, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF A SIMILAR TYPE. THE MEMORIAL WOULD, USING HISTORY'S STATISTICS, SHOW THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF LIVES PRESERVED THROUGH IMPLEMENTING LESSONS LIFTED FROM THE WRECK OF MV "DERBYSHIRE." THE MEMORIAL WOULD NOT ONLY MOURN LOSS OF LIFE, BUT ALSO CELEBRATE PRESERVATION OF LIFE THROUGH THAT LOSS. 2. TO SUPPORT THE MERSEYSIDE MARITIME MUSEUM IN PRESENTING EXHIBITIONS THAT EDUCATE THE PUBLIC TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DANGERS FACED BY THE SEAFARER IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, AND THOSE POSED BY THE INADEQUACY OF THE MEANS BY WHICH HE/SHE PLIES THE OCEANS. 3. TO STANDARDISE THE QUALITY, MAINTENANCE AND COMPREHENSIVENESS OF DATA AND TO ENSURE THAT INFORMATION IS NOT ILLEGALLY USED FOR OTHER THAN A STRICTLY DEFINED PURPOSE: TO DRAW UP A CODE OF CONDUCT FOR ALL VOYAGE DATA RECORDERS NOW REQUIRED IN MERCHANT SHIPS. 4. TO INVESTIGATE AND RECORD BULK CARRIERS NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE HATCH COVERS TO STANDARD URS21+1 (PRE-2007 BUILD), BECAUSE THE REQUIREMENT FOR BULKERS POST 2007 IMPLIES THAT PRE-2007 COVERS ARE INADEQUATE. ALSO AGE RELATED WEARDOWN OF COVERS TO BE RESEARCHED WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF REDUCING STRESSES BY INCREASING FREEBOARD (I.E.CARRYING LESS). 5. TO LIAISE WITH THE MARITIME REGULATORS, MARITIME EXPERTS (THEORETICAL AND SEAGOING) AND NAVAL ARCHITECTS REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TWENTY-TWO RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE "DERBYSHIRE RFI." 6. TO ENSURE THAT THERE IS AN INDEPENDENT, TRANSPARENT AND MUTUALLY ACCEPTABLE ROUTE TO FULL AND PROPER CASUALTY INVESTIGATION, AND - RELATED - THAT THE CONFIDENTIAL HAZARDOUS INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM IS RE-ESTABLISHED. (CHIRPS).

To erect a stone memorial at the Liverpool Parish church to commemorate the people who died in the Mv "Derbyshire" and to support the Merseyside Maritime Museum in presenting exhibitions that educate the public to the difference between the dangers faced by the seafarer in the context of the natural environment, and those posed by the inadequacy of the means by which he/she plies the oceans.

• presPAUL LAMBERT MBE
• Rev PETER GEORGE MCGRATH