Various types of alarm were used on board the ESTONIA. The lifeboat alarm and fire alarm were general alarms, addressed to passengers and crew. Besides these there was a coded alarm "Mr. Skylight" addressed only to the crew and intended to alert relevant parts of the safety organisation. The alarms were described in the emergency plan and in the safety manual available at various locations in the crew accommodations such as mess rooms, day rooms and all major workplaces. The different alarms are explained as follows:
Lifeboat alarm
The lifeboat alarm - seven short sound signals, followed by one long one - was given repetitively with the alarm bells and/or the vessel's horn. When the alarm was given, the command group, the port and starboard boat groups, the engine control group and the eleven evacuation groups were alerted.
Fire alarm
The fire alarm - continuous repetitive short sound signals - was also given with the alarm bells and/or the vessel's horn. When the alarm was given, the command group, the two fire groups, the engine control group, the control group, the port and starboard boat groups and the first aid groups were activated.
"Mr. Skylight"
Without alarming the passengers, the crew could be alerted over the public address system with the coded message "Mr. Skylight". This message could also be used with a suffix. Depending on which suffix, viz.
in case of fire:
"Mr. Skylight to No. 1", means for the fire groups to proceed immediately to "Fire Station No. 1".
"Mr. Skylight to No. 2", means for the fire groups to proceed immediately to "Fire Station No. 2".Fire Station 1 is forward on deck 8.
Fire Station 2 is aft on the car deck.
Note:According to other sources "Number One" meant "Deck 1" and "Number Two" meant "Deck 2", etc. which, however, is not in accordance with the "Safety Plan" attached as Supplement No. 226 to the Report of the JAIC. "Mr. Skylight to number one and two" according to this plan means that Fire Group 1 should proceed to Fire Station 1 (underneath the bridge) and Fire Group 2 should proceed to Fire Station 2 on the aft part of the car deck.
in case of collision or grounding:
"Mr. Skylight Damage Control" means for the fire groups to proceed to their fire station and prepare themselves for access and damage control. Alarm no. 121 sounds all tanks, nos. 130 and 132 close all scuppers and covers on car deck. The first aid group is called together.
Note: Several crew members have testified to having heard "Mr. Skylight to No. 1 and 2" over the loud speaker after the excessive heel at 01.02 hours and thus assumed that there was a fire and tried to reach their respective fire stations at the beginning (e.g. see statement of 2nd engineer Peeter Tüür - Enclosure 7.3.2.128).
7.3.3
Alarm
The safety organisation was led by a command group mustering on the bridge. The command group consisted of the master, the chief engineer, the chief officer, the chief purser and the third officer.
The master was the overall commander of the operations. The chief engineer was the fire chief, commanding the two fire groups and the engine control group. The chief officer was responsible for stability calculations and was also the deputy fire chief. He commanded the port and starboard lifeboat groups, the first aid group and the helicopter groups. The chief purser was responsible for evacuation, the evacuation group reported to him through forward and aft zone leaders. The third officer's main responsibility was to record times of events and to take notes.
According to the emergency plan and the safety manual, the chief officer - not the radio officer - was responsible for external radio traffic. The reason for this is that the safety organisation for the ESTONIA was copied from organisation of the NORD ESTONIA. This ferry had no radio officer.
7.3.4
Training and drills
The various groups in the safety organisation drilled according to the vessel's exercise schedule. The drills were led by the group leaders, who also made a report of the content of the drill and of any group members absence. This report was submitted to the responsible officer in the command group.
The fire groups, the engine control group and the boat groups were scheduled for training every two weeks, and the first aid group and the evacuation groups were scheduled to exercise once a month.
When the ESTONIA commenced her traffic between Tallinn and Stockholm, an operative control was carried out on board by the Swedish Sjöfartsverket, which has been described in Subchapter 6.5.2.
On 2 February 1994 the ESTONIA also participated in a major bomb exercise, the RITS Övning. The report is attached in Swedish as Enclosure 7.3.4.129.1 and a summary of the report in English is attached as Enclosure 7.3.4.129. The threat that a bomb might explode in the sauna and swimming pool compartments half way between the Estonian and the Swedish coasts, i.e. approximately in the actual casualty position, was simulated. The purpose of this exercise was to train the co-operation between the shore-based, helicopter landed anti-terrorists experts with bomb dogs, etc. and the vessel's safety organisation.
Reportedly the exercise was a great success and ESTONIA's crew was said to have performed well.
