Sinking of the MS Estonia

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Estonia departed slightly behind schedule at 19:15 on 27 September and was expected in Stockholm the next morning at about 09:00. She was afterwards stated as carrying 989 people: 803 passengers and 186 crew.^{[4]: 137 [JAIC 1]} However the actual numbers were likely higher: subsequent analysis of the passenger list suggested 69 further unaccounted for passengers and so a possible 921 dead.^[5]

Most of the passengers were Swedish, although some were of Estonian origin, while most of the crew members were Estonian. The ship was fully loaded, and was listing slightly to starboard because of poor cargo distribution.^[4]: 138

According to the final disaster report, the weather was rough, with a wind of 15 to 25 m/s (29 to 49 kn; 34 to 56 mph), force 7–10 on the

Search and rescue followed arrangements set up under the 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (the SAR Convention), and the nearest Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre MRCC Turku coordinated the effort in accordance with Finland's plans. The Baltic is one of the world's busiest shipping areas, with 2,000 vessels at sea at any time, and these plans assumed the ship's own boats and nearby ferries would provide immediate help and that helicopters could be airborne after an hour. This scheme had worked for the relatively small number of accidents involving sinkings, particularly as most ships have few people on board.[11]

Mariella, the first of five ferries to reach the scene of the accident, arrived at 02:12.

Victims

Nationalities	Missing	Survivors	Identified bodies	Total
Sweden	461	51	40	552
Estonia	237	62	47	347
Latvia	19	6	4	29
Russia	10	4	1	15
Finland	9	3	1	13
Norway	6	3	0	9
Germany	4	3	1	8
Denmark	5	1	0	6
Lithuania	3	1	0	4
Morocco	2	0	0	2
Netherlands	1	1	0	2
Ukraine	1	1	0	2
United Kingdom	1	1	0	2
Belarus	1	0	0	1
Canada	1	0	0	1
France	1	0	0	1
Nigeria	1	0	0	1
Total	757	137	94	989

Of the 989 on board, 138 were rescued, one of whom died later in hospital.^[1] Ships rescued 34 and helicopters 104; the ferries played a much smaller part than the planners had intended because it was too dangerous to launch their man-overboard (MOB) boats or lifeboats. The accident claimed 852 lives. Most died by drowning and hypothermia, as the water temperature was 10–11 °C (50–52 °F).

One of the victims of the sinking was the Estonian singer Urmas Alender. In total, 94 bodies were recovered: 93 within 33 days of the accident, and the last victim was found 18 months later.^[1] By the time the rescue helicopters arrived, around a third of those who escaped from the Estonia had died of hypothermia, while fewer than half of those who had managed to leave the ship were eventually rescued.^[1] The survivors of the shipwreck were mostly young males with strong constitutions, from all those who survived 111 were men but only 26 were women. ^[12] Seven over 55 years of age survived and there were no survivors under age 12. About 650 people were still inside the ship when it sank.^{[JAIC 1]} The commission estimated that up to 310 passengers reached the outer decks, 160 of whom boarded the life-rafts or lifeboats.^[13]

Official investigation and report

The wreck was examined and videotaped by remotely operated

The report was critical of the crew's actions, particularly for failing to reduce speed before investigating the noises emanating from the bow, and for being unaware that the list was being caused by water entering the vehicle deck.[4]^: 142 There were also general criticisms of the delays in sounding the alarm, the passivity of the crew, and the lack of guidance from the bridge.

Recommendations for modifications to be applied to similar ships included separation of the condition sensors from the latch and hinge mechanisms.^{[JAIC 7]}

Changes stemming from the disaster

In 1999, special training requirements in crowd and crisis management and human behaviour were extended to crew on all passenger ships, and amendments were made to watch-keeping standards.

New designs, the "citadel concept" once again influenced by Estonia, aim to ensure damaged ships have sufficient buoyancy to remain afloat, though cost will determine if any are built. SOLAS 90, which came into effect in 2010, specifies existing passenger ships' stability requirements and those in North West Europe must also be able to survive 50 cm (20 in) of water on the car deck.[17]

2020 investigation

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On 28 September 2020, a Swedish documentary was released which used underwater equipment to film the wreck. This investigation found a 4-metre hole in the ship's hull. This prompted the Estonian prime minister and foreign minister to meet with their Swedish and Finnish equivalents and announce that a "new technical investigation" would take place.^[18]

The head of the Estonian investigation stated publicly that he believes this new information points to a collision with a submarine and that the hole could not have happened post-sinking.^[19] In October 2020, the Estonian government published a report stating that the hole was too small to have sunk the ship as quickly as it did.^[20] The Swedish documentary makers were prosecuted for violating the sanctity of the wreck, but were acquitted on 8 February 2021 as the diving happened on a German ship in international waters. Germany had not signed the treaty that declares sanctity over the site.^[21] However, as a result of a retrial in September 2022, the filmmakers were finally found guilty and fined.^[22]

By June 2021, laws allowing the examination of the wreck for investigation of the disaster were passed in the Swedish and Estonian Parliaments.^[23][24] Shortly after, the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority announced their plan to conduct dives at the grave site starting July 2021.^[25] In July 2023, the car ramp was retrieved.^[26]

2023 intermediate report

Between 2021 and 2022, Estonian, Finnish and Swedish authorities carried out comprehensive wreck surveys^[27] using cameras, 3D photogrammetry, 3D laser scanners, and shallow- and mid-penetration sub-bottom profilers, among other equipment. This was to identify the cause of penetrating deformation(s) to the hull of MV Estonia and assess whether the safety investigation of the sinking should be re-opened.

In January 2023, the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK) released the Intermediate Report of the Preliminary Assessment of MS Estonia^[28] following the joint investigation. According to the report, there was "no indication of a collision with a vessel or a floating object", neither was there "indication of an explosion in the bow area".^[28][29] Also an oil leak was found on the hull's aft section and that the Finnish Border Guard is monitoring the leakage.^[30]

It was also concluded that the ship was "not seaworthy" and its certificate of seaworthiness, issued 28 January 1993, was incorrect, because

• an inspection of the bow parts following regulations, which would have led to the discovery of the flaws in the visor, was not performed, and
• the exemption regarding the location of the bow ramp as the upper extension of the collision bulkhead was not recorded in certificates.

The report also concluded that if the inspection was performed and the exemption noted, "the vessel would not have been trading the Tallinn–Stockholm route", and "the accident would probably not have occurred".

The ramp would be lifted in July 2023 and parts that divers in the 1990's had cut to get in to the ship. ^[31][32]

Effects of the disaster

The disaster had a major impact on ferry safety, leading to changes in safety regulations as well as in life-raft design,^[33] much as the RMS Titanic disaster did in 1912.

Conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories exist about the cause of the sinking. German journalist

In the autumn of 2004, a former Swedish customs officer claimed on Sveriges Television that Estonia had been used to transport former Soviet military equipment in September 1994.^[36] The Swedish and Estonian governments subsequently launched separate investigations, which both confirmed that non-explosive military equipment was aboard the ship on 14 and 20 September 1994. According to the Swedish Ministry of Defence, no such equipment was on board on the day of the disaster, and previous investigations by the Swedish Customs Service found no reports of any anomalous activity around the day of the disaster.^[37][38]

Protection of the wreck

In the aftermath of the disaster, many relatives of the deceased demanded that their loved ones be raised from international waters and given a land burial. Demands were also made that the entire ship be raised so that the cause of the disaster could be discovered by detailed inspection.^{[39][4]: 140} Citing the practical difficulties and the moral implications of raising decaying bodies from the sea floor (the majority of the bodies were never recovered), and fearing the financial burden of lifting the entire hull to the surface and the salvage operation, the Swedish government suggested burying the whole ship in situ with a shell of concrete.^[40][41]

As a preliminary step, thousands of tons of pebbles were dropped on the site.^[4]: 140 The Estonia Agreement 1995, a treaty among Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Denmark, Russia and the United Kingdom, declared sanctity over the site, prohibiting their citizens from even approaching the wreck.^[42] The treaty is, however, only binding for citizens of the countries that are signatories. At least twice, the Swedish Navy has discovered diving operations at the wreck. The wreck's location is monitored on radar by the Finnish Navy.^[43]

Media

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The sinking of the Estonia has been the subject of a number of documentaries in addition to the feature film Baltic Storm, including:

• History Channel: Sinking of the Estonia
• Zero Hour: The Sinking of the Estonia (2006)
• Built from Disaster: Ships (2009)^[44]
• Discovery Plus: Estonia (2020)^[45]

It was also mentioned in the Swedish film Force Majeure.^[46]