On Saturday, survivors, relatives, and representatives from the government and parliament gathered at Galärvarvskyrkogården on a sunny Djurgården in Stockholm to commemorate the stormy night and the 30 years that have passed since the Estonia, en route from Tallinn to Stockholm, sank.
137 passengers were rescued from the water, but 852 people, including 501 Swedes, lost their lives in the Baltic Sea.
Living on in memory
Lennart Nord is responsible for Saturday's ceremony. He lost his mother in the disaster. Before the ceremony, he looked forward to a fine day.
What significance does a day like this have?
— To not forget this tragic disaster. To keep it alive in people's memories, he says.
The King began his speech by quoting what is engraved on the Estonia monument, which contains the names of those who perished, at the cemetery. "Their names and fate we will never forget."
— It is so important that we remember. To honor those who perished, those who survived, and all other relatives. To learn from the disaster so that something similar never happens again. We owe it to those who were affected when the Estonia sank on September 28, 1994, he says.
Wreath-laying
During the ceremony, the King and Queen Silvia laid wreaths at the monument, as did the Speaker of Parliament Andreas Norlén and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M).
Norlén emphasized in his speech the importance of gathering again to "remember those who disappeared and think of you who were left behind".
Thirty years is a long time in a person's life. A long time to live on without a loved family member or friend. A long time of longing, he said, and repeatedly returned to different poems by Barbro Lindgren.
Kristersson, in turn, quoted Tomas Tranströmer's poem "After someone's death".
It is with great humility and immense respect for each person's pain that we gather here today, Kristersson said in his speech.
