SEARCH FOR BRITISH FERRY'S TOXIC CARGO CONTINUES The search continued for a cargo of poisonous chemical substances loaded on the Herald of Free Enterprise Ferry which capsized in Zeebrugge harbour Friday. A total of 72 drums of various toxic materials which were loaded on trucks in the ship's hold have been recovered, but Belgian authorities warned it was essential to recover a further 61 containers of a cyanide-based solution. A net has been thrown over the gaping loading doors at the front of the ship to prevent any more drums floating out. Salvage workers have moved cranes into place alongside the wreck of the 7,951 ton roll-on, roll-off ferry which now lies partly submerged on a sandbank outside the harbour. The ferry's owner is <European Ferries Plc>, majority owned by Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co Plc <PORL.L>. The operation to right the vessel began yesterday after divers abandoned their search for more bodies. Experts said it could take months to refloat the ship and free the 80 bodies estimated to be trapped amid debris. "The problem is that in these waters you can normally expect one working day out of four," said Daan Kaakebeen of Dutch Salvage experts Smit Tak International of Rotterdam. He estimated the job itself would require 35 working days. Using reinforced cables, salvage experts intend to raise the ship and set it down into a trench dug alongside. Salvage work could pinpoint the exact cause of the loss of the ferry, one of three sister vessels plying cross-Channel routes from England to continental Europe. Suspicion at present is focused on the ferry's main vehicle loading doors, set close to water level. In London, Transport Secretary John Moore told parliament yesterday that the ship keeled over after water gushed in through the bow doors. He said a major government inquiry into the disaster will be held, all similar ferries sailing from Britain will be inspected and owners will be asked to fit lights to give warning if bow doors are not properly closed. Experts carrying out tank and computer tests to determine how the accident occurred will focus attention on the ship's doors, its ballast system and crew procedures, he added. Two other investigations into the disaster have also begun, one Belgian and one by the ferry's owners.