the drive of this new approach was driven in part from a chain of transport - based disasters in the late 1980s , such as the wreck of trans - river ferry the journal of free competition in 1987 , the sea platform piper alpha disaster in 1988 , and the marchioness thames river boat collisions in 1989 . more than 400 people lost their lives in these three disaster , but no individual community or organisation was brought to notice .
100 or more people lost their lives in a ferry sinking.