A new investigation about the sinking of the Baltic ferry, Estonia, found that the ship was unseaworthy and that there were no indications of an explosion in the vessel's bow, according to preliminary findings.
The ferry sank in the Baltic Sea on 28 September 1994, claiming the lives of 852 people as it was headed to Stockholm, Sweden from Tallinn, Estonia.
Estonia had been shuttling passengers between the two cities for around 18 months and that night's voyage was another cruise featuring duty-free shopping, meals and nightclubs for Estonians heading on a Swedish getaway and Swedes returning home. There were also 10 Finnish citizens among the passengers as well as 186 crew members aboard.
Only 137 people survived the tragedy.
The weather was rough that night, with gale force winds of up to 25 m/s in the forecast. While not ideal, ferries commonly sailed through such conditions, even though local fishing boats had decided to stay in their ports.
In addition to the Estonia, other ferries and ships were headed to the same waters. However, as the cruise progressed, winds picked up and seas higher than four metres sent some seasick passengers to their cabins, while others continued to pass the time around the ship's bars and pubs.
Just before 1 am, after being at sea for fewer than five hours, a crewmember heard a metallic bang from the ship's bow as it was hit by a large wave. An inspection of the car deck revealed nothing out of the ordinary but the strange metallic noises continued, according to survivors.
About 15 minutes later, the bow visor fell off, tearing open the vehicle ramp at the same time, prompting seawater to flood the car deck and the ship quickly started leaning to the right.
The captain unsuccessfully tried to stop the situation from worsening by reducing the ship's speed and turning to the left.
Just 28 minutes after its first radio distress call was made the Estonia disappeared from the radar screens of other ships in the area that were following the situation.
The incident became one of the worst maritime disasters in European history.
Probe continues
Researchers from Sweden, Estonia and Finland who continued to examine the causes of the tragedy, reached the same conclusions as a previous study in 2021 — that the wreck is lying on bedrock at the bottom of the sea.
In addition to investigators from Sweden and Estonia, Finland's Safety Investigation Authority (Otkes) also took part in the new probe, as the accident occurred in Finnish territorial waters.
The lead investigators presented their preliminary findings at a press conference held in Tallinn on Monday.
While not reaching a definitive conclusion to the causes of the recently-discovered holes in the ship's hull, investigators now suspect the holes were caused by the vessel hitting the bedrock when it sank.
Additionally, there was no evidence that an explosion took place in the ship's bow, according to Rene Arikas, head of Estonia's Safety Investigation Bureau.
Arikas said that due to technical reasons, the joint investigation is still not complete and that researchers will continue to examine the ship's hull, vehicle deck as well as the area to the vessel's starboard side.
The investigators also want a closer look at the bow visor, which opened to allow vehicles to enter and exit the ferry. Arikas said the team has not ruled out a scenario that the bow visor hit another ship, but said he does not think that is possible.
3D details
Estonia's Safety Investigation Bureau has shared 3D-modelled interactive images of the vessel, wreck and surrounding seabed.
Interest into the nearly three-decade old tragedy was resparked a couple of years ago, after a new TV documentary about the doomed ship revealed holes in the ship's hull that had not been seen before.
In November 2021 accident investigators said the holes might have been caused when the vessel hit the seabed, but that more investigation was needed.
The shipwreck has shifted about 13 degrees from its original position when it sank, according to the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority's Jonas Bäckstrand, who noted that was the reason the recently-discovered holes in the hull had not been noticed before.
A joint Swedish-Estonian probe of the tragedy completed in 1997 found that the Estonia was seaworthy when it left Tallinn before it sank.
However, the most recent research has led investigators to conclude that the ship was not seaworthy.
Investigators also found that the bow visor had not been inspected and that, among other shortcomings, was too heavy and incorrectly mounted.
