Kategorie: News
Bereaved families launch their own expedition
Almost 27 years ago, the "Estonia" sank in the Baltic Sea. To this day, there is speculation as to why the ferry "Estonia" sank. Until recently, a rigorous diving ban was in place. After a change in the law, the way is clear for the search for new facts.
The investigating authorities from Estonia and Sweden started new investigations at the wreck of the ferry. This sank on September 28, 1994 on the way from Tallinn to Stockholm off the Finnish south coast. The actual cause of the accident has not yet been determined. With 852 fatalities, the shipwreck was the worst in Europe in recent decades.
Preliminary studies took place in July of that year, during which the wreck and the seabed were examined with echo sounding and sonar equipment. An underwater robot with camera was also used. The data, collected with the help of experts from Stockholm University (SU), will be visualized, but this may take several months. More comprehensive investigations are then planned for next spring.
The accident
There were 989 people on board the "Estonia" at the time, 852 died, only 137 survived, making the shipwreck the most serious in Europe since World War II. According to the official investigation report from 1997, the cause of the disaster was the torn-off bow visor; in any case, water had broken into the ship during strong waves. To this day, however, there are doubts about this theory with the bow visor. Survivors and survivors have also been demanding for a long time that the investigations be resumed.
Documentary filmmakers had revealed last year that they had used a diving robot to discover, among other things, a hole several meters in the ship's hull. Because many of the dead could not be recovered, the wreck is protected as a resting place and may not be visited under an imposed burial truce. Following the revelations, Sweden adopted legal changes to allow authorities to investigate the finds more closely. These came into force at the beginning of July.
Survivors launch own investigation
Since it has not yet been fully clarified why the Baltic Sea ferry "Estonia" sank and 852 people died, survivors initiated their own investigation.
The survivors of the victims of the "Estonia", which sank in 1994, want to investigate the shipwreck of the Baltic Sea ferry themselves with a new dive. A privately funded team of experts will set out for the accident site on Sept. 18, the Estonian daily Postimees reported.
"It's now or never," Raivo Hellerma of bereaved families' organization Memento Mare told the paper, which is sponsoring the expedition. The expedition, which will run parallel to an official investigation by state authorities, will are led by former Estonian prosecutor and "Estonia" investigator Margus Kurm.
"We are not looking for someone to blame or trying to prove an existing theory. I simply believe that this is a unique opportunity to answer at least some of the questions we have," Hellerma stressed.
According to the official investigation report from 1997, the torn bow door was the cause of the sinking. However, there are doubts about the cause of the accident to this day.
Survivors and surviving relatives have long been calling for the investigation to be resumed. Documentary filmmakers had revived the discussion the previous year. These were confirmed in the course of the above-mentioned preliminary study initiated by investigating authorities in Estonia, Sweden and Finland.
More information:
Unsolved Ship accident (Estonia disaster) to be investigated again