21.3.2 reports from deck 4

21.3.2
Reports from Deck 4

This deck is located directly above the car deck and approximately the forward two-thirds are arranged for passenger accommodation. In the aft one-third there are conference rooms and the Estonia Club on port side.
The persons having been on this deck - located above the car deck and being on same level with the forecastle deck - have made most important observations as summarized below:

In the forward part there were among others:

port outside:

Anders Ericson
trainee officer
Einar Kukk A.B. sailor Aulis Lee with his wife Aina Lee

port inner side:

Mikael Öun
Stephan Duijndam
Eckard Klug

starboard outside:

Tony Spuhl

Anders Ericson - cabin 4131 - 45 years old - port outside (3rd cabin from forward) statement is attached as Enclosure 20.239:

went to cabin at 22.15 hours (Swedish time), but impossible to sleep, each time the vessel met a wave it was shaking/vibrating severely;
ca. 24.00 hours (Swedish time) came suddenly two heavy bangs, one straight after the other which almost threw him out of his athwartships bed, he realised that something must be wrong, thus got up and dressed himself

- he had the feeling that the noises came from nearby his cabin (2nd cabin port outside from forward);
he opened the cabin door, looked out and saw nobody, he went along the alleyway to midships and then followed the alleyway aft. When he had made about 2/3 of the way to the large centre stairway the vessel suddenly heeled to starboard (he had walked ca. 32 m, i.e. incl. opening door, looking out and walking ca. 32 m it should have taken ca. 1 minute);
he waited a short while for the ferry to right up again, which she did not. He continued to the centre stairway and went up the stairs. The list increased.
When he reached the 6th deck the listing stopped at about 30°.
On deck 7 he opened the door to the outside with two other persons.

Note: Anders Ericson and the two other persons were the first ones to reach the open deck 7.

Aulis & Aina Lee - A.B. sailor in cabin 4125 (because his wife was on board) - Enclosure 21.3.2.305.1:
woke up from the heavy heel, no observations or noises heard before or after, up to deck 7 and into liferaft.

Note: Actually Aulis Lee had left the cabin time before the big heel and was most probably one of those working on the car deck while his wife stayed back in the cabin and was later - after the big heel -brought up to the 7th deck either by him or another sailor (statement Elmar Siegel !).

Einar Kukk - Trainee officer - cabin 4103 - port outside - 2nd last cabin - Statement of 29.09.94 - Enclosure 17.2.217:

at about 00.30 hours Silver Linde returned from his safety round to the bridge and said everything was o.k.
5-10 minutes later he left the bridge and went to his cabin, cleared up some matters and went to the Pub (where also Karaoke was performed).

Note: Pub Admiral is located on the 5th deck starboard side, aft.
There he saw Silver Linde in the door at about 00.40 hours. Kukk left after some minutes and went to his cabin, where he arrived at 00.50 hours, went to bed, but could not sleep.
After 5-10 minutes he heard a strange noise which was very unusual (and alarming) to him; got up and dressed; whilst he was putting on his shoes the vessel heeled to starboard, he cannot say how much,
he rushed up to the 7th deck,
when he was between 6th/7th deck he noted a shock/vibration inside the vessel.

Note: It has to be assumed that Einar Kukk went first to the bridge and subsequently to deck 7.

Mikael Öun - cabin 4217 - port inside, middle.
Statement of 29.09.94 - Enclosure 17.2.224:

was in bed but could not sleep;
close to 01.00 hours he noted that the vessel's movements changed, i.e. whilst the vessel had so far been pitching, she now started to roll 3°-5°;
after a heavy wave impact he heard 2-3 severe scraping noises from forward - this was at 01.01 hours - followed by a slight listing to starboard and some things fell down;
directly thereafter followed a very severe heeling and now everything loose was sliding to starboard. Statement of 04.10.94 - Enclosure 17.2.225:
was in bed and continuously heard banging noises which he believed to be caused by the waves hitting against the bow;
he slept a bit and woke up again and finally was fully awake when he heard a particularly loud bang and because the vessel started to behave differently in the sea state;
he noticed that the vessel started to roll from side to side instead of pitching against the sea;
he also heard 3 heavy scraping noises which followed straight one after the other with some seconds in between and after these scraping noises the vessel heeled severely to starboard;
at first there was heavy movement of the vessel and a slight list remained and the vessel remained with that list for a while;
a little later the heel suddenly increased severely and everything loose moved toward the cabin door whereafter the vessel righted again;
he got out of his bed, put on some clothes and removed the loose objects from the door in order to open it, thereby he put his camera and the alarm clock in his pocket;
after his survival he realised that the alarm clock had stopped at 00.02 hours (Swedish time) because the moment it fell from the table, due to the sudden heeling, the batteries had become disengaged and the clock stopped.
Consequently the time of the 1st heavy heeling to starboard was 00.02 hours Swedish time = 01.02 hours ship's time.

Eckard Klug - cabin 4214 - 54 years old - port inside middle - Enclosure 17.2.221:

was in bed, heard many bangs which he had never heard on his many previous voyages, in his opinion these were cars floating on the car deck;
in his opinion the unsecured cars and trucks had moved forward against the bow ramp due to the hard setting in of vessel's bow and forced the bow ramp open and this is the cause of the casualty;
Klug heard in addition to the above explained bangs a bang which was heavy as if breaking of a thick plate;
they got up and by the time he had reached the cabin door the starboard heel started;
when he reached the boat-deck the list was about 30°.

Note: When being questioned in October 1999 Eckard Klug stated to have information that the bow ramp had not been secured at all.

Stephan Duijndam - cabin 4221 - port inside middle - Enclosure 17.2.220:

at 23.00 hours to bed;
woke up at 01.00 hours from a noise as if the vessel had collided with something, heard several cracking/crashing noises thereafter;
a little later the vessel heeled to starboard to such an extent that he was thrown out of his bed;
met chaos everywhere on his way up;
on 7th deck was an officer with white shirt and walkie-talkie.

Jaak Mullo - cabin 4214 - port inside, middle (cabin mate of Eckard Klug) - Enclosure 17.2.223:

woke up when he was thrown out of his bed by the abrupt heel to starboard;
visor fell off after 5-10 minutes, bow ramp looked as if it had fallen backwards.

Jukka Pekka Ihalainen - cabin 4212 - port inside - (cabin mate of truck driver Leo Sillanpää ((( ) - Enclosure 21.3.2.305:

truck driver who had previously been with the Coast Guard/Navy at Russarö;
to bed at 22.30 hours, woke up due to radio music at 00.32 hours, turned down the sound and slept again;
woke up again shortly afterwards from 3 very hard bangs/crashes;
realised that engines were reduced and stopped;
then the vessel heeled and drifted with wind and sea;
saw the other two ferries at port side (could not believe that ESTONIA had changed course so much after the heel);
the other two ferries continued their course and speed;
met Per-Erik Ehrnsten in the liferaft.

Margus Karmet - cabin 4224 - starboard inside - Enclosure 21.3.2.306:
was one of the first trucks to drive on board - trucks and trailers were secured by belts;
to bed ca. 23.30 hours, heard strange cracking noises in the structure, woke up from some unusual noise and that he heard flower pots and other things smashing against the wall due to the abrupt and wide heel;
noted later from the liferaft that the ramp was missing.

Ainus Toobal - cabin 4224 - starboard inside - Enclosure 17.2.229:

heard at 00.30 hours strange bangs and metal bearing against metal - heavy heel to starboard and vessel did not right up;
heard subsequently from crew members that water had penetrated the bow ramp.

Tony Spuhl - cabin 4313 - 2nd cabin starboard forward outside -- statement taken on 06.10.94 - Enclosure 17.2.228:

could not sleep due to labouring of vessel;
looked frequently out of the window;
listened for the noises which the bow created when smashing into the waves and thought spontaneously that the vessel should not be going so fast against such waves;
he noted after a while that the engine noises became different and he got the impression that the vessel reduced the speed;
he was lying there and continued to listen to the noises and the roaring was quite severe when the waves slammed against the bow;
after a while he heard an enormous crash and the whole vessel was shaking/vibrating;
he looked out of the window and is not really sure whether the vessel was proceeding ahead or was lying still (did not move);
the normal roaring noises remained when the bow was slamming into the waves, but then came "2 metallic noises", which sounded like "klonk-klonk" directly after the bow was setting into the sea;
when the next wave hit the bow Tony Spuhl heard something which sounded like "klonk-klonk-klonk", 3 times. Directly thereafter he heard a rushing noise below his cabin. The noise came from the car deck.
he was still lying in his bed and heard this rushing sound once more;
his partner René by then was also awake and he said: "Something is wrong, we must get out of the cabin."
Whilst Spuhl was jumping out of his bed, he saw René opening the door, at this very moment the vessel heeled suddenly to starboard.

Pär Andersson - cabin 4319 - starboard outside - Enclosure 21.3.2.307:

nothing special until midnight - made outside/inside walk around the vessel after midnight and also looked down on the forecastle deck, saw wet carpet and water on stairs between decks 5/6;
heard and felt between 0.00-01.00 hours heavy metallic banging;
estimates that the engines stopped between 01.05-01.10 hours;
reported the severe starboard heel only when they were already on the 7th deck together with other people.

In the aft part of deck 4 behind the reception area several passengers have survived. Some of them made the following observations:

port outside : Morten BojeJensen
port inner side : Anneli Konrad :
Wanda Wachtmeister :
Magnus Lindström
starboard outside : Tom Olav Jonsson
starboard inner side : Raivo Tönisson
aft part : Kerim Nisancioglu :
Yngve Lien :
Kalvet Maiko :
Marek Kaasik
Estonia Club : Janno Aser

Morten Boje Jensen - 28 years old - cabin 4603 - port outside, 2nd cabin behind the Reception - Enclosure 21.3.2.308.
(Danish) Statement taken by the Copenhagen police 06.10.94:

ca. 22.40 hours Swedish time in bed - 23.00 hours switched off the light, but could not sleep, he heard continuous "small banging noises" which did not appear to him to be natural.
after a certain time, cannot say how much later, he heard 3 "bangs" one after the other. Between the first and the 2nd a car alarm sounded below him, but not after the 3rd one which came from port side;
shortly afterwards the ferry heeled to (he said port) must be starboard side and simultaneously he heard below himself the noise of a large object moving from port to starboard. After some seconds he jumped out of bed and left the cabin;
could not reach the centre stairway directly because his alleyway was blocked by iron bars to forward, had to go back and then over to the starboard alleyway which was clear.

Anneli Konrad - cabin 4620 - dance girl - port inside, 3rd last cabin - Enclosure 21.2.4.283:

shared cabin with Hannely Veide, both were making first trip, thus were not yet acquainted with the vessel;
last performance ended at ca. 00.30 hours, whereafter she made her way to her cabin;
she got lost and ended up by the lift on the 2nd car deck, where she heard a "crash";
came finally to her cabin, felt sick, no water in toilet;

Note: Henrik Sillaste was working on the non-functioning vacuum system in the engine room on 0-deck level at that time.

she switched off the light in her cabin to sleep, but it continued to blink (on/off);
apparently must have slept, because she stated having woken up due to a "crash" and the vessel was shaking whereafter she felt that the vessel heeled over.

Wanda Wachtmeister - cabin 4618 - 4th deck - next cabin further aft. Statement taken on 29.09.94 - Enclosure 20.247:

in bed - could not sleep - suddenly she heard "ett brak" = one crash - this was a loud bang and thereafter the vessel started to heel to starboard.

Statement taken on 01.10.94 - Enclosure 21.3.2.309:

in bed - heard a heavy loud noise - "bom" - a noise of the type that makes you realise at once that something is wrong;
the vessel heeled substantially to starboard and maintained the list;
upon being questioned with what she could associate the noise "bom" she said it came from the bottom of the vessel, from the same hull, a clear, distinct "bom" - not rattle;
when she reached the deck above, i.e. 7th deck, she looked at her watch and it was 00.05 hours Swedish time = 01.05 hours ship's time.

Tom Olav Jonsson - cabin 4405 - starboard outside, 3rd cabin after the Reception - Enclosure 21.3.2.310:

he was in his cabin and had just completed his toilet/washroom matters when the vessel suddenly heeled to starboard and did not right up again.
he looked out of his window straight into the sea and saw the waves smashing against the window.

Note: In upright position the windows on 4th deck are 8.8 m above waterline, at a starboard heel of about 45° the windows were touching the water level which created the impression that waves were smashing against the window.

Marek Kaasik - deck passenger in some room in the aft part of deck 4 - Enclosure 21.3.2.311:

about one hour before the vessel fell on the side he felt that the vessel's whole construction was suddenly shaking;
at some time they heard metallic noises from upper decks and became aware of the heeling.

Magnus Lindström - cabin 4429 - starboard outside aft part - Enclosure 21.3.2.312:

Magnus and his wife went to bed at about midnight, but due to the heavy movements of the vessel it was difficult to sleep;
at 01.00 hours he heard strange noises, the tooth brush jumped out of the glass and other things fell down, he noted noises from the car deck, it appeared as if something was rolling over the car deck;
after the rolling he heard one heavy metal bang and then the vessel heeled 10°-15° to starboard. It is difficult to state that more exactly as the vessel was still pitching and rolling.

Kerim Nisancioglu - in the cinema - aft part of deck 4 - Enclosure 21.3.2.313:

shortly before the heeling started the vessel began to roll equally in the waves from side to side and he believes that then the waves did not come from ahead anymore. At that time he did not feel the engines;
in connection with this rolling, the vessel heeled to starboard and he heard something below them sliding over to starboard. According to the noise this came from some place below them and must have been some large object;
shortly after this noise he felt that the vessel heeled more to starboard;
they came to the Information desk, there were two girls who refused to talk to them - they were totally helpless.

Yngve Lien - deck passenger in cinema in the aft part of deck 4 - Enclosure 21.3.2.314 :

ca. 23.00 hours to sleep;
heard a heavy noise and the vessel heeled to starboard.

Kalvet Maiko - deck passenger on deck 4 - Enclosure 21.3.2.315:

woke up when the vessel heeled to starboard;
water splashed against the window.

Raivo Tönisson - cabin 4426 - starboard inside - Enclosure 17.2.230:

heard and felt hard blows/bangs between 00.00-01.00 hours;
at 01.00 hours heavy bang and shortly later the vessel heeled wide to starboard, everything slid over to the deep side.

Janno Aser - Estonia Club - port aft - Enclosure 21.3.2.316:

the vessel was shaking/vibrating when he suddenly felt the heel to starboard, saw furniture moving to the deep side;
the heel was 45° when he had reached deck 7 outside.

Summary of observations made / noises heard / times realised by passengers/ crew members in the area of the 4th deck Before and after the starboard heel:

a.) First noises / extraordinary shaking / vibrating of vessel / crash.

b.) Speed reduced / engines reduced / engines stopped.

c.) Movements on car deck.

d.) Several bangs and starboard heel.

e.) Time of starboard heel.

f.) The righting up after the big heel.

as to a.)
First noises / extraordinary shaking / vibrating of vessel / CRASH.

(1) Ca. 23.45 hours (Swedish time) = 00.45 hours ship's time a dull bang and ca. 1/2 minute later a similar bang were heard, these were really sharp and short sounds which were clearly heard despite the music, the vessel was shaking somewhat, the noises were not created by waves striking against the bow;

(2) after a while there was an enormous crash and the whole vessel was shaking / vibrating;

(3) 23.45/50 hours (Swedish time) 3 metal to metal bangs with 15-20 seconds in-between were heard and the vessel was shaking/vibrating differently than before;

(4) got lost and ended up on the 2nd car deck, where a CRASH was heard (probably the same as under (2);

(5) time before the vessel fell on the side it was felt that the vessel's whole construction was suddenly shaking (probably the same as under (2);

(6) unusual shaking/vibrating of the vessel's hull were felt, these shocks were really shaking the vessel and the truck drivers felt uneasy wondering whether the trucks were really secured.

In summary of the above item a.) it has to be concluded that the survivors from the 4th deck heard and felt at about 00.45 hours a dull bang and 30 seconds later another similar dull bang. These were sharp and short sounds. A moment later there was an enormous crash and the vessel's structure was shaking/ vibrating. Again a little later there were 3 metallic bangs after which the vessel was shaking/vibrating differently than before.

as to b.)
Speed reduced / engines reduced / engines stopped.

(1) It was noted after a while that the engine noises became different and that the vessel's speed might have been reduced;

(2) a little later a deep/slow pitch movement and vibrations in the aftship like from astern-pitch and/or stern turned into the wind were realised - glasses were clinking;

(3) shortly before the list started the vessel began to roll equally in the waves from side to side and it felt as if the vessel did not have the sea from ahead. At that time the engines were not felt;

(4) there was uncertainty whether the vessel was proceeding ahead or was lying still (did not move).

In summary of the above item b.) it has to be concluded that at some short time after the noise scenario summarised under item a.) the engines/pitch were reduced and/or put to 0 and/or to astern. It has further to be concluded that the course was changed to port or to starboard to the effect that wind/waves came either from port or starboard and caused the vessel to roll.

as to c.)
Movements on car deck.

(1) Many bangs were heard, which in such intensity had never been heard before on previous voyages and which were considered to be cars floating on the car deck;

(2) at 01.00 hours strange noises were heard and it was noted that the noises came from the car deck, it appeared as if something was rolling over the car deck.

In summary of the above item c.) it has to be concluded that doubtless there were movements of cars and in all probability also of trucks. The inside of the bow ramp shows damage from inside to outside which could have been caused by a truck. On the other hand what many explained as "movements" on the car deck could also have been the scraping noises deeper below.

as to d.)
Several bangs, etc. and starboard heel.

(1) At ca. 01.00 hours suddenly 2 heavy bangs, one straight after the other, then suddenly a very low noise was heard and the pitch movements stopped, thereafter pitching and rolling and then only rolling - 2 full swings, i.e. less to port/more to starboard; at the 3rd swing the vessel heeled deep to starboard, righted almost and then fell abruptly to ca. 15°, this was just before 01.00 hours;

(2) other survivors identified the bangs to be more like 3 scraping noises which followed one straight after the other with some seconds in between and after these scraping noises the vessel took the severe heel;

(3) the heel caused the alarm clock to fall from the table, the batteries became dislodged and the clock stopped at 00.02 hours Swedish time = 01.02 hours ship's time which has to be considered the exact time of the big heel;

(4) in a starboard forward cabin a rushing noise was heard from below after the bangs but before the big heel;

(5) another survivor reported that 3 "bangs" were heard one after the other; between the first and the second a car alarm sounded below, but not after the third one which came from port side. Shortly afterwards the ferry heeled to starboard side and simultaneously below the noise of a large object moving from port to starboard was heard.

In summary of the above item d.)it has to be concluded that there had been 2-3, probably 3, bangs, crashes, shocks at about 01.00 hours which were followed by the big heel shortly later. The time of the big heel was 01.02 hours when the alarm clock stopped because the batteries had become disengaged.

as to e.)
Time of starboard heeling.

Anders Ericson - at ca. 24.00 hours Swedish time = 01.00 hours ship's time suddenly felt two heavy bangs, got up and dressed and had walked ca. 32 m in the alleyway when the vessel heeled to starboard ~ 2-3 minutes after 01.00 - 01.02/03.
Einar Kukk - at 00.50 hours back in cabin and to bed, could not sleep, after 5-10 minutes strange noise, got up and dressed when vessel heeled to starboard, thus at ca. 01.00 hours.
Mikael Öun - alarm clock fell from table when vessel heeled to starboard and stopped at 00.02 hours Swedish time = 01.02 hours ship's time.
Stephan Duijndam - 01.00 hours woke up from noise as if vessel had collided with something, heard several crashing, cracking noises - thereafter heel to starboard, which threw him out of his (upper) bed.
Magnus Lindström - heard rolling (scraping) noise from below, at ca. 01.00 hours tooth-brush fell out of glass and other things fell from the shelf, heavy metal bang followed by the heeling.
Juri Pekka Purliväli - awakened at ca. 01.00 hours by an enormous crash followed by the big heel, two men from the upper beds were thrown to the floor.
Wanda Wachtmeister - after she had reached the 7th deck she looked at her watch - it was 01.05 hours, i.e. the heeling must have been some minutes before, say at ca. 01.00 or 01.02 hours.

In summary of the above item e.) it has to be concluded that according to the survivors of the 4th deck the time for the big heel was 01.02 hours.

as to f.)
The righting up after the big heel.

Mikael Öun - he thought that they were turning the vessel, it appeared as if the waves were then coming from the starboard side, the vessel suddenly heeled wide over, the alarm clock fell from the table and the vessel righted up and heeled again to ca. 10°-15°.
There is no other known statement from the 4th deck survivors about the righting up of the ferry.

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