On 20 August 1989 the "Marchioness" disaster occurred when an aggregate dredger, the "Bowbelle", collided with a passenger vessel, the "Marchioness", near Cannon Street Railway Bridge. Four Metropolitan Police patrol boats assisted in the rescue of 87 people. Fifty-one passengers died, though, and following subsequent inquiries the government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to work together to set up a dedicated search and rescue service for the tidal River Thames. Consequently, on 2 January 2002, the RNLI set up four lifeboat stations at Gravesend, Tower Pier, Chiswick and Teddington, taking over the role of primary search and rescue service on the river from Thames Division.