PART A FACTUAL INFORMATION

CHAPTER 1

The Estonian flag car/passenger ferry ESTONIA - pictured below - departed from Tallinn on 27 September 1994 at about 19.15* to 19.30 hours for a scheduled voyage to Stockholm. Reportedly she was carrying 989 people - 803 passengers and 186 crew members - as well as 40 trucks/trailers, 25 passenger cars, 9 vans and 2 buses. Despite the completely filled port heeling tank she had a 1° starboard list at departure.

 

The Ro-Ro Passenger Ferry ESTONIA

* = All times are in Estonian time (Swedish time + 1 hour) unless stated otherwise.

The ESTONIA's route and the site of the accident

MV ESTONIA left Tallinn with all four main engines running. When she was clear of the breakwater full service speed was set. The four engines were hence set to produce 90% of their maximum continuous rating of 17,600 kW, corresponding to a speed of 19.5-20.0 kn. The wind was southerly 8-10 m/s. Visibility was good, with occasional rain showers.

At 20.00 hours the watch on the bridge was taken over by the second officer Peeter Kannussaar and the third officer Andres Tammes. The voyage proceeded normally. Sea conditions along the Estonian coast were moderate, but became more rough when the ship left the sheltered waters. The ferry was now heeling between 2°- 4° to starboard due to increasing wind pressure on the port side.

As the voyage continued the wind velocity increased gradually and the wind veered to south-west. Visibility was generally more than 10 nautical miles. At midnight the wind had increased to south-westerly 15-20 m/s with a corresponding increase of the wave height to now 3-4 m significant. The rolling and pitching of the vessel increased substantially. Many passengers became seasick, but everybody on board felt the extremely hard pitching which caused the ferry to shake and vibrate as she was driven through the rough sea with full power. Low banging noises from the bow area were continuously heard by many passengers.

ESTONIA followed her normal route along the Estonian North coast on course 262° to a waypoint of 59°20' N; 22°00' E which is confirmed by the observations of survivor Anders Ericson, the watch mate of the meeting vessel AMBER and the trainee mate Einar Kukk having been on the bridge until ca. 00.35 hours.

After the waypoint, at about 00.30 hours, the bridge ordered the engine room to activate the stabiliser fins, however, there were again problems with the starboard fin.

At about 00.45/50 hours one or two crashes/dull bangs were heard from the forward part of the car deck whereafter very hard metallic banging noises were heard and felt in the forepart of the ferry. Shortly afterwards it was felt that the speed had been reduced and the vessel was now making much softer pitch movements and also started to roll, less to port and more to starboard. Noises of the racing propellers were heard and respective vibrations felt.

At about this time a first - weak - "Mayday" call from ESTONIA was heard by those on the bridge of a Swedish ferry in the vicinity, however, no action was initiated since the call apparently was not repeated.

At about 01.00 hours a sharp bang was heard and a slight shock felt, the vessel's hull vibrated. Passengers from the 1st deck started to rush upwards, others were alarmed. Water was noted escaping under pressure from 0-deck to 1st deck. A little later, the second and much heavier impact followed by the third one occurred. The vessel stopped abruptly while turning to port. At 01.02 hours the ferry heeled - very wide - probably 50° or more - to starboard and came back to almost upright condition whereafter she heeled again very wide to starboard and came back to about 10° starboard but then heeled in steps to starboard.

The vessel was now on a south-easterly heading with wind and sea from starboard abeam within a very short time and all 4 main engines were automatically shut off, while the auxiliary diesels kept running/generating electricity some time longer.

Passengers started to rush up the staircases and panic developed in many places. Many passengers were apparently trapped in their cabins where they were later found by the divers. Lifejackets were distributed to those passengers who managed to reach the boat deck. They jumped or were washed into the sea. Some managed to climb into liferafts which had been released from the vessel. Reportedly only the starboard lifeboats were launched but could not be used except for the emergency motor boat No. 1 which was later seen by some survivors proceeding away from those in the water.

At a heel of approximately 40° the diesel generators also automatically shut off and the emergency generator took over the power supply to a limited number of consumers including illumination of alleyways and decks, when a weak female voice was heard calling "Häire, häire, laevel on häire" the Estonian words for "Alarm, alarm, there is alarm on the ship" over the public address system. Just a moment later the internal alarm code for the crew - "Mr. Skylight to No. 1 and 2" meaning "Go to fire stations No. 1 and No. 2" - was transmitted over the public address system followed by the general lifeboat alarm.

The first officially registered Mayday call from MV ESTONIA was received at 01.22 hours. A second Mayday call was transmitted shortly afterwards and by 01.24 hours fourteen ship- and shore-based radio stations, including the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Turku, had received respectively automatically recorded the Mayday message.

The heeling to starboard increased stepwise further and water continued to enter the accommodation decks and the car deck through the partly open bow ramp and the starboard stern ramp with increasing speed. The starboard side of the ship was submerged at about 01.30 hours, with the visor still attached to bow ramp and forepeak deck. During the final stage of flooding the ferry was completely upside down. The visor fell off the ferry at a heel of approximately 130°/140° while the ship sank stern first and disappeared from the radar screens of ships in the area at about 01.53 hours.

Rescue efforts were initiated by the ferries in the vicinity while MRCC Turku reacted only rather late. About one hour after ESTONIA had sunk, the first of the four passenger ferries in the vicinity - M.V. MARIELLA - arrived on the scene of the casualty. Rescue helicopters were activated and the first one arrived at 03.05 hours.

During the night and early morning, helicopters and assisting ships rescued the official number of 138 people, of whom one later died in hospital. During the day and on the two following days 92 bodies were recovered, thus it has to be assumed that most of the missing persons are still inside the wreck.

The wreck was found in international waters within Finland's Search and Rescue Area, resting on the seabed at a water depth of about 80 m on a heading of 95° and with a starboard list of about 120°. The visor was missing and the bow ramp as well as the starboard stern ramp were found to be slightly open.

The position of the wreck was established to be 59°22,9' N, 21°41,9' E, while the visor was allegedly found on position 59°23,0' N, 21°39,4' E, i.e. about 1500 m to the West of the wreck.