The former operator of the Woolwich ferry has been fined £200,000 after a Surbiton man's son drowned in a mooring rope accident.

Ben Woollacott, 19, a deckhand working on the Ernest Bevin Woolwich ferry, sustained severe head injuries after he was dragged overboard by a mooring rope on August 3 2011.

His father, Stephen Woollacott, reacting to the ferry company's fine, said he had just got the news as he had only been able to bear spending one day at the trial. About 60 people attended a memorial stakes for his son on Monday, October 19, at Windsor racecourse, as he loved racing.

Serco Limited was found guilty after an eight day trial at Inner London Crown Court, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said. Mr Woollacott, a sixth-generation Thames waterman from Swanley, was caught in a loop of the rope while releasing lines that were securing the ship to a mooring buoy. He struck the buoy before entering the water. Mr Woollacott was recovered by the ship’s boat with help from a Port of London Authority launch and taken to the ferry’s south terminal. Despite paramedics’ efforts, he was pronounced dead. The teenager was in the final year of an apprenticeship when he was killed and had got engaged to his girlfriend Jade Humphreys, 18, from Putney just days earlier.

He came from five generations of boatmen and was the son of Surbiton-based Mr Woollacott, boss of sightseeing tour company Cruise London.

An MCA investigation found risk assessment and procedures had not been updated at the time of the accident and did not cover the work being carried out. The crew were not monitored to ensure they complied with safety procedures. Serco Limited was convicted of one charge of failing to ensure the health and safety of the Ernest Bevin crew, the MCA said. The company was cleared of a second separate charge of failing to ensure the safe operation of the Ernest Bevin under Section 100 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. It was fined £200,000 with £200,000 costs.

Serco no longer operates the service as its contract with TfL ended as planned on March 31, 2013.