The aim of the work, which is being reported after four years, was to determine whether information in a well-known television documentary from 2020 meant that the conclusions from the 1997 casualty report (JAIC) on the sinking of the Estonia needed to be revised. The documentary showed previously unknown holes in the Estonia's hull.
The answer to that question is no, according to the Estonian Accident Investigation Board (OJK), the Swedish Accident Investigation Board (SHK) and the Finnish Accident Investigation Board (OTKES), who do not see any reason to initiate "a new full-scale safety investigation".
Contact with the seabed
"Based on the extensive material that has been reviewed, together with new investigations and the interviews that have been conducted, it can be concluded that Estonia sank due to the collapse of the bow structure, and that the new damage on the starboard side occurred through contact with the seabed," the investigators write in a press release.
The shape of the damage on the starboard side is consistent with the adjacent bedrock, according to investigators. They state that the previously unknown holes were not visible in the 1990s, but could only be revealed later due to the movement of the wreck on the seabed.
New modeling
The results of the new investigations, which included the salvage of Estonia's bow ramp in the summer of 2023, are also consistent with the 1997 report on what caused the accident. The bow visor gave way to the force of the waves, which led to the ramp opening and water being able to flow onto the car deck, the investigators state.
An updated modeling that has been carried out also supports the previous scenario of how the accident occurred, where rapid water ingress through the bow ramp led to the ship capsizing and sinking, according to the investigation.
The sinking was not due to a single cause, but was the result of a complex system failure within the shipping industry with several interacting deficiencies, according to Tauri Roosipuu at the OJK.
“This failure was a very disappointing wake-up call for the entire industry, as incidents involving bow visors had occurred before the accident, but knowledge of them was not disseminated within the industry,” says Roosipuu.
Facts: The Estonia disaster
TT
The ferry M/S Estonia sank on the night of September 28, 1994, en route from Tallinn to Stockholm.
852 people died, of whom 501 were Swedes. 137 people were rescued.
The International Maritime Bureau presented its report on the accident in 1997. The most important conclusion of the report was that the fasteners and locks for the Estonia's bow visor were undersized. When the bow visor came loose, large amounts of water rushed onto the car deck and caused the ship to capsize.
