Services are held every year to remember those who perished in Britain's most monumental peacetime maritime disaster.

The Herald of Free Enterprise tragedy happened minutes after the vessel left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge at 6pm on March 6, 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew.

The bow doors of the Roll-on-roll-off eight-deck car and passenger ferry had not been closed and water immediately flooded the car deck.

The Townsend Thorensen ship, laden with 543 mainly British passengers and 145 vehicles weighed about 1,100 tonnes. It was was busier than usual where about 100 passengers had taken advantage of the Sun newspaper's £1 crossing offer.

As the sea claimed the car decks, the Herald was quickly destabilised. It swayed violently until it crashed onto its port side on the sandbank in shallow water.

Amid chaos and terror in the pitch black, the international rescue flotilla to save crew and passengers worked through the night, followed by days of diving searches, even when hope for survivors dwindled.

Those who could not be saved were remembered during the service by The Sailors' Society at the Cannon Street church.

Sandra Welch, Sailors’ Society’s deputy CEO, who led the service, said: “The tragedy may have happened 32 years ago but it has remained in the hearts of our chaplains who comforted and supported the families and survivors affected.

“The service gives us the chance to join with families in remembrance of the loved ones they lost that night, and the many heroic acts carried out by crew and passengers.”

The seafarers' union the RMT this morning paid its own tribute on Twitter.

And in a press statement, its general secretary Mick Cash said: "In paying tribute to the memory of the 193 seafarers and passengers who died 32 years ago, we also remember the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster as a terrible example of compromised maritime safety standards.

“RMT continue to work to impress upon government and ship-owners the need to improve maritime safety standards for seafarers and passengers for the long term."

The immediate cause of the sinking was found to be negligence by the assistant boatswain, who was asleep in his cabin when he should have been closing the bow-door.

However, the official inquiry placed more blame on his supervisors and a general culture of poor communication in Townsend Thoresen.