Bargemaster quits over disaster links

The Queen's Bargemaster has been forced to resign over his connection with the Marchioness pleasure boat disaster barely 24 hours after the Evening Standard revealed his appointment.

Ken Dwan, who was responsible for the safety of the Queen when she travelled by water, was asked to step down by Buckingham Palace.

He co-owns Tidal Cruises, which owned the Marchioness when it sank on the Thames in

1989, killing 51. He was heavily criticised after the disaster, which happened after the pleasure boat collided with the dredger Bowbelle near Southwark Bridge.

The development is highly embarrassing for Buckingham Palace and the Lord Chamberlain's Office, which appointed Mr Dwan to the honorary post. Relatives of the dead said his appointment was "unjust, inappropriate and unacceptable."

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said Mr Dwan was asked to leave after his links to the disaster were revealed in the Standard. Relatives of the victims welcomed his resignation.

Margaret Lockwood-Croft, who lost her son Shaun, 26, said: "I'm very pleased it's taken only 24 hours. I had geared myself up for a long battle.

"The decision to appoint him was extremely insensitive to the families who lost loved ones. They will all be very relieved he has gone." Mrs Lockwood-Croft, of Aldershot, added: "The Queen should be asking those people who decided to appoint him to resign. They obviously did not vet him properly."

Mr Dwan, who rowed for Britain in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, comes from a Bermondsey family long associated with the Thames. He is a Junior Warden of the Honorary Company of Watermen and Lightermen.

He set up Tidal Cruises in 1973 with William Ludgrove, 64. In 2001, after a long campaign for a public inquiry into the Marchioness disaster, Lord Justice Clark criticised the firm for failing to train and monitor personnel properly in lookout and safety procedures.

Also criticised were the Bowbelle owners East Coast Aggregates; its managers, South Coast Shipping; and captains Douglas Henderson of the Bowbelle, and Stephen Faldo of the Marchioness.