On 29 and 30 September
1994 in total 433 immersion suits, 289 lifevests and 8 containers full of
lifevests were found along the coast of the Island of Hiumaa. All but one
of the 10 lifeboats of the ESTONIA got away from the vessel. Life-boat no.
2, i.e. the first one on port side, was still attached to its davits during
the ROV and diving investigations. Eight of the remaining 9 lifeboats were
found drifting upside down or water filled and they stranded subsequently
either on the Estonian mainland beaches or on the Island Hiumaa (Dagö). Lifeboat
no. 1 - a motor launch specifically equipped for emergency actions, e.g. man
overboard manoeuvres and thus called on board the "MOB rescue boat" - was
found near Hangö according to the JAIC report page 130, subchapter 8.10. Upon
request for details about the position and condition of the boat the National
Bureau of Investigation - Criminal Technological Laboratory - advised however
that life-boat No. 1 had actually been picked up on 29 September 1994 at 14.30
hours by the M.V. "HYLJE" (F.B.N. vessel) in position 59°16'40"N; 22°52'12''E
and subsequently brought to Hangö - see Enclosure
23.1.391.
This position
is only 8.5 nm to the south-east of the wreck position and not very likely
because the lifeboat had to break loose from its davits before the vessel
had settled down on her starboard side at the sea bottom as it otherwise would
have been burried in the sea bottom below the vessel. This means that the
lifeboat had to break loose from the davits and start drifting on 28.09.94
at about 02.00 hours. At 14.30 hours on 29.09.94 when it was allegedly found,
it had been drifting for 36.5 hours already but covered a distance of 8.5
nm only.
On the other
hand according to Supplement 402 to the JAIC Report Annexes 5/5 and 6/4 the
lifeboats had drifted already 27.68 nm to the south-east within the first
24 hours, while the total distance to the Island Hiumaa (Dagö) is only 33
nm. Therefore the alleged as-found position for lifeboat No. 1 is unrealistic.
Lifeboat No.
9 - the last one on the starboard side - was found on the Estonian coast.
When it was inspected a camera with two films, belonging to the Swedish press
photographer Håkan Isefjord, was found jammed inside the boat. Håkan Isefjord
was a passenger but did not survive. The finding of the camera with the two
films was reported only days later to the Swedish Embassy in Tallinn from
where the information was passed immediately to the criminal police in Stockholm
- See Enclosure 21.1.392. Instructions on how to treat the films were passed
to Tallinn and the then acting prosecutor Birgitta Cronier ordered camera
and films to be brought to Stockholm soonest. When the objects arrived in
Stockholm, however, there were said to be no films. All this is revealed from
the files of the finally acting prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand.
23.2
The EPIRB Buoys
The buoys floated off the sinking ferry and were found on 2 October 1994 along the Estonian coast near Dirhami in switched-off condition. This was reported by fax by Uno Laur, a member of the Estonian part of the JAIC, on 29.12.94 - Enclosure 23.2.392.1 - to the Swedish part of the JAIC.
