TWENTY years of controversy and agonising ended for a Hampshire family yesterday when the captain and crew were cleared of blame for the sinking of the bulk carrier Derbyshire.

Seaman David Ridyard, of Chandler's Ford, was among 44 people who perished when the 160,000 tonne ship disappeared under 80ft waves in a Pacific Ocean typhoon off the coast of Japan.

The largest British merchant ship ever lost at sea, the Derbyshire vanished while carrying iron ore from Canada to Japan.

But for 20 years controversy has raged over the cause of disaster.

David was a 26-year-old officer on the MV Derbyshire and his father, retired marine surveyor Peter Ridyard, has been actively campaigning for the real truth to be told about the tragedy.

Yesterday Mr Ridyard was among families who heard a High Court judge clear their loved ones of blame for the disaster.

A second inquiry into the tragedy refuted the findings of an earlier investigation which blamed the sinking on a badly secured hatch cover.

Reporting its findings yesterday, the latest inquiry, headed by Mr Justice Colman, put the blame for the disaster on inadequate hatch covers which bent and buckled when the vessel encountered 80ft waves.

This allowed sea water to pour into the space above the cargo and led to the massive ship eventually sinking two and half miles to the bottom of the sea.

Now the judge has called on the UK government to press "strongly and urgently" for new standards of hatch cover strength.

After the hearing, the families' solicitor Stephen Cantor said: "We are very pleased that there has been complete exoneration and vindication of the crew."

He said that the Derbyshire Families Association (DFA) set out with two vital objectives: to establish the true cause of the loss of the Derbyshire and to do all that it could to improve safety of life at sea.

Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Don Foster hailed the verdict as one of the most important judgements on maritime safety in recent years.

"Relatives of the crew have waited over 20 years for proof that the crew were not to blame. At long last they have it, he said."