Enclosure 36.2.445.1

Office Translation
Hearing of the Survivors of MV ‚ESTONIA'
by the Finnish Criminal Police in Helsinki on 29.09.94

- First part about the rescue: "So after 3 hours you got into the lifeboat …"
- Criminal policeman introduces himself (CP)
- Interview with employee of the German Embassy
- Hearing of Manfred Norbert Rothe (MNR)
    03.08.1958 (or 48)
    Profession: Pharmacist or foodstuffs-chemist
    Address: Bergstr. 31, 69151

CP: Primarily you are the injured person and according to our laws that means that you are required to tell the truth. The ferry 'ESTONIA', when did you go on board?
MNR: Ca. 17.00 hours Swedish time on board, ca. 1 hour before departure.

CP: Which deck?
MNR: 1st Deck way down.

CP: You also had a friend in this cabin?
MNR: Yes.

CP: What had happened, when did you go to bed?
MNR: No, well we had separated, he said he wanted to go to sleep and I didn't want to sleep yet and so I stayed upstairs in the Bar.

CP: This was Mr. Keller?
MNR: Yes.

CP: And you were in the Bar?
MNR: Yes.

CP: That was on Deck 5?
MNR: Yes.

CP: Behind the Supermarket?
MNR: Yes, the Supermarket was on the right when you entered, that is there were automats, supermarket automats, and then the entrance to the Bar was on the left.

CP: This then was the Info-Deck?
MNR: Yes, so up front was the Information, way in front, and in the back towards the stern there was a staircase so that you could go up to the last deck, then there was an alleyway like in between. You could practically walk from the Bar by a very short walk up to the deck, thus outdoors.

CP: Is known?
MNR: Well it was like this, at first, this was about 10 minutes before the main occurrence, the first glasses of the row fell down, it was so, there is this bar, a bar-counter and above it there is like a wooden rack and then it has these two rails and there the glasses were hanging, upside down, Cognac glasses and there 2 or 3 glasses fell down, that is the first ones in the row fell down and broke, and then the staff took down all the glasses that were hanging up there and packed them into like a box, into like a plastic box. And that was put next to the kitchen, there is sort of a provisions room there - so here was the Bar and then there was a door and then there was like a provisions room, there they put the glasses, utensils and plates and what all they have, that was put into there and then came the main occurrence, i.e. there was a bang and then all at once all the utensils came flying out of the kitchen. Also the whole box, everything came flying out and was caught behind the bar-counter and that is why no one was injured. The bar-counter was positioned slightly in front of the door, so that means that the exit of counter and the door exit are slightly misaligned and that's why all the utensils flew out, the glasses flew out against the counter, that is everything came out all at once and the staff was surprised and especially the barman looked particularly surprised and he then reacted immediately, left, went up and then the people followed him, so did I.

CP: How quickly did the ship start to the other side?
MNR: Yes, well she practically already had a heel with the first bang, so she was already slanting and then she stabilized herself to about 70°, that is the angle to the surface of the water, then there was another bang, then it was about 45° thereabouts, and then she went way down, so that the surface of the water and the side of the ship were on one level, that is the outboard side.

CP: Which side?
MNR: Ahh, just a moment, it was the Stb. Port side, that is it was the left side, the left side was up. The left was up, the right was under water, because in front was the stern ahhh the bow.

CP: How long did it take for the ship to go to 90°?
MNR: Well, hmm, well the whole action, I guess not longer than well about 20-30 minutes, well 30 at maximum, it was probably shorter more like 20 minutes.

CP: At maximum half an hour?
MNR: Yes, that's my guess, but I didn't look at a clock. But everything went fairly quickly, well first the listing, the first bang, the second bang and then she was already on the (water's) surface and then she already sank right away. The suction started at the stern. I stood against the ship's wall, like this, pooh, [not understandable], i.e. dull, more like slamming when a wave came and was beating at the front, it was like that the whole time, that you can tell apart. It was like when a large object hits a wall, well really like a WAM and then it already had this slanting angle and that's why then all the utensils flew out. It was because it was sloping.

CP: And what can you say about the motors, the engines?
MNR: Yes, at the first bang.

CP: …..had they already stopped then?
MNR: Yes afterwards nothing was on anymore, yes that's true then when we were outboards, well they had stopped then, but at the time when the bang came they were naturally still running. That was not foreseeable that there. And the light was still on for a long time, that is the lighting, that was on for a relatively long time. Not until the boat practically, until the funnel let off this whistle, then she went down and then the light was out. That was shortly before the boat was completely under water.

CP: If you think of this so-called, as you say, first bang as being the zero mark, how long was there lighting on the ship?
MNR: Yes, well I can only guess well to the outside I would say a good 20 minutes, if you presume 30 minutes at maximum, that was still relatively long, we weren't standing sitting in the dark, the storm was still there.

CP: Mr. Rothe, could one think that the vessel was hit by a mine?
MNR: No, no possibility, because there wasn't any explosion, there has to be an explosion, No and then it's like this if a mine is hit, then she sinks within 3 minutes, if she really hits it, then she's gone. I think that is out of the question. And then there wasn't any jet (of water), nothing, there has to be something. Water shooting out, if (it was) a mine. I was in the Army, I think it is out of the question, because then the time span was too long. You know nothing happened there and there was a bang against the ship's side and that was certainly from a truck or something similar. Well a mine, that can't be, I think that is out of the question.

CP: … and, no explosives at all?"
MNR: No, because that sounds different, there would then be an explosion, a loud one, a detonation that would hurt your ears. And that is so even just with a hand-grenade, well when you ignite a practice hand-grenade you have to hold your ears shut. I was in the Army and I know what that's like and what an explosion is like, so no way, it was much too thud-like. Even if the water dampens it, but there was nothing like that there, I think it is out of the question.

CP: What were the alarms like on the ship?
MNR: I didn't hear anything, no nothing, there should have been well a toot-toot like alarm, I didn't hear anything, absolutely nothing.

CP: And nobody said anything over the loud-speakers?
MNR: Yes well the problem with these loud-speakers was that the messages were mostly in Estonian or Swedish, the whole messages, only partly in English. Well that was actually a problem, the languages. For the people who naturally understand Estonian or Swedish, for the others like West Europeans it is actually pretty difficult.

CP: Do you understand English?
MNR: Yes.

CP: Did they say anything in English?
MNR: I didn't hear anything, although I have to add this, I was outside then, through the wind if the loud-speaker speaks in that direction and the wind is blowing you don't hear anything, you could then practically be standing in front of it and I think the wind was pretty strong. Well personally I didn't hear anything, when I was inside the ship.

CP: What did the staff do?
MNR: Nothing……

Explanation about lifeboats