On Friday 2nd September, a service of remembrance and dedication was held at the grave of the only crew member to be buried in the UK. Ibrahim Hussain, aged 19 was one of only five of the crew whose bodies were found following the wreck of MV Flag Theofano on 29th January 1990, only a few miles from Portsmouth Harbour. The other 14 bodies were never recovered and are assumed to be inside the wreck still.

Thanks to the campaigning of Martin Woodward, author of “The Forgotten Shipwreck” and Steve Hunt who did a lot of the organising, with the help of Portsmouth City Council and others a memorial headstone has been installed over the grave of Ibrahim Hussain. This was unveiled at a service held at the graveside in the Muslim section of Kingston Cemetery, Portsmouth. Those attending included many who had been involved in ship movements in the area at the time of the disaster, representatives from the pilots, harbour authorities and others who wanted those who had lost their lives to be remembered and not “forgotten”.

The Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Tom Coles introduced the service before Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo led the service through words and prayers in Arabic and English. After a short address from Martin Woodward, the headstone was unveiled and the assembled congregation stood for a minute’s silence. Wreaths were laid by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Martin Woodward and Roger Thornton on behalf of the Southampton Shipowners Association, Port Agents, Merchant Navy, Welfare Board and Sailors Society Southampton.

If you want to know more about the story of the wreck and subsequent investigation, I recommend Martin Woodward’s book (see link at the bottom of this page to purchase a copy). Martin was one of the RNLI crew serving on the night of the wreck, and as a commercial diver assisted in the investigation. For many years, the cause of the wreck was a mystery, but this book finally provides a public account of what probably happened.

However, as one mystery is solved, others remain. It seems almost inconceivable that the damaged Dean Tail buoy which would have provided vital evidence was quickly removed and has never been seen since. Although it was possible to attempt to recover the remaining bodies from the wreck, permission was never provided. The Greek shipowners have not cooperated even 30 years later with requests for information about the ship such as internal plans which could have helped with the investigation. Was there something to hide or is this simply avoiding any potential blame? The mysteries remain. The largest peacetime disaster in the Solent area since WW2 has been forgotten or ignored by many, but hopefully this headstone will be the first of more memorials to be placed in remembrance of those who lost their lives.

You can watch a BBC South recording here featuring interviews with Martin Woodward and Steve Hunt:

The written report from BBC South Today is here

 

 

You can purchase a copy of Martin Woodward’s book here: