Deck 6 :
Only in the forward 1/3 of this deck were passenger cabins located, the expensive ones. In the larger part the A-la-Carte Restaurant, other restaurants and bars as well as boutiques could be found. Before referring to the testimony of passengers having been in the cabins on this deck we would like to outline the summary of the statement of Mats Hillerström, who was actually staying in cabin 1026 below cardeck, but felt unwell and scared and thus moved up to the aft and open part of Deck 6 already after midnight ship's time, ca. 00h30! Below are his observations in short: He stayed in a sheltered place at starboard side best protected against the storm and heard nothing but the noises of the storm. The air was full of spray. At some time he saw a large vessel at starboard side apparently on same course and speed. Also at starboard side but far away and astern there was another vessel which was slower, because the distance appeared to increase. Suddenly and without any previous indication the vessel listed to starboard. He saw the tables and chairs inside the restaurant moving to starboard. Within a very short time the vessel took such a list that he could no more walk on the deck, but had to pull himself along the railing at the aft part to the higher port side. When he had reached the port side he looked over the side and got the impression that the vessel had reduced speed and was turning to port. He worked himself up to 7th Deck and when he had reached the outer railing he looked again over the side and saw the stabilizer fin just sticking out of the water (probably 2-3 minutes after the list).
Note: When the fin comes out of the water the vessel has a list of 20°.Per-Erik Ehrnsten - cabin 6304 - 28.9.94
- tried to sleep, but was kept awake by hard noises created by the ferry slamming into high seas, however what kept him awake in particular were the indefinable shocks, which deviated from the normal noises of the ferry.
- the shocks and the noises repeated themselves indefinably regularly 4-5 times. "Tong-tong, tong, tong"; noise, short pause and the same again.
- he got up and started to dress when the ferry suddenly listed and the furniture was sliding against the door.
- the mentioned noise came from below and from forward.
- the noise was not caused by the sea and also was not a sudden sound like an explosion but it was regular, each unit - tong, tong, was equally strong, a little pause and the same regularity.
- It was no impact noise (collision, grounding).
- In his opinion the list remained for quite some time at 30°-50°.
- The funnel was pointing in the direction where the wind came from.
Note: That means that the vessel was then on an approximate SE-ly heading, i.e. almost on opposite course. She had turned around ca. 150° to port.Marianne Ehn - cabin 6222 - 59 years.
- slept in her cabin with her husband
- lots of noises in the vessel woke her up
- it was so terrible, asked her husband for the time: 00.00 hrs. (Swedish time).
- shortly afterwards the vessel was diving into a deep wave, there was a heavy bang
- the vessel listed severely and the engines stopped.
- before she had already noticed that something was beating heavily against the vessel.Wanda Wachmeister - cabin 4618 (6th Deck) - on 29.9.94:
- in bed - could not sleep - suddenly she heard "ett brak" = one crash - this was a loud bang and thereafter the vessel started to list to starboard. on 1.10.94:
- in bed - heard a heavy loud noise - 'bom' - a noise of the type that makes you realize at once that something is wrong.
- The vessel listed substantially and maintained the list to starboard.
- 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 00h05 Swedish time = 01h05 ship's time.Vassili Vorodin - cabin 6310 - (overlooking foreship with visor)
- ca. 24h00 went to bed
- ca. 01h00 felt that the vessel listed to starboard and fell out of bed
- does not remember having heard particular noises -
- saw through the window that the vessel listed heavily to starboard.Lars-Olof Lamke - cabin 6223 -
- ca. 24h00 went to bed - ca. 01h00 was woken up by his wife because the vessel took a list to port which he tried to explain to her by the weather. Immediately thereafter the vessel listed very severely to starboard and everything loose moved to starboard side, blocking the door.
- It took them about 5 minutes to open the door, at that time the list was already so large that they walked in the angle between wall and floor on their way up to 7th Deck, i.e. 45°.
- Lamke stood at the part outside when the vessel was already lying on her side and he was washed off the vessel by a sea, thereby the glass of his wristwatch was smashed in and the watch stopped at 00h31 Swedish time = 01h31. This is the time when the list had reached or exceeded 90°.Vihlo Itäranta - Deck 6 aft port side - inside - 60 years - 30.9.94.
- had been at sea when he was young.
- woke up from strange noises - unusual noises
- was just about to get dressed when the listed started.
- saw later that the searchlight on top of the bridge was on.Summary of observations made / noises heard by passengers on Deck 6:
a) Before the starboard list:
- indefinable shocks and noises which were repeated regularly 4-5 times "tong-tong-tong-tong", which came from forward and below and were not created by wave impact;
- something was beating heavily against the vessel;
- vessel was diving into a deep wave - heavy bang - starboard list - engines stopped;
- one crash - starboard list; - heavy, loud noise: BOM;
- one vessel starboard side abeam, the other one starboard astern.
b) After the initial starboard list:
- ca. 2-3 minutes after list stabilizer fin out of the water, i.e. then the starboard list was 20°; - vessel in port turn with reduced speed;
- vessel stabilized for quite some time with a list between 30°-50°;
- funnel was pointing in the direction where the wind came from;
- 01h31 vessel on her side with 90° or more list.Deck 5 :
Also Deck 5 has the same lay-out as Deck 6, i.e. only the forward ca. 1/3 is arranged for passenger accommodation.
Birgit Eriksson - cabin 5229 -
- at about 23h00 the vessel began to move and labour heavily in the seas;
- woke up by noises indicating that steel plates were knocking against steel plates.
- Almost immediately after these steel-to-steel noises the vessel listed heavily to starboard. The steel-to-steel noise came either from the visor or the bow ramp, the direction where the noises came from was forward.Leif Bogren - cabin 5128 (5th Deck, port side forward)
Protocol 1.10.94
- to bed at 23h30 (Swedish time).
- vessel behaved like a small boat also does when slamming over the waves
- explains the many noises created by a vessel proceeding against heavy seas -
- so he was lying there and listened and suddenly there was the bom-bom, which was no more the same noise, it was not a good noise,
- he continued lying still and listening, and was fascinated about why they were proceeding so fast?
- from the time he went to bed to the first unusual noise bom-bom to when the engines stopped maybe 10-15 minutes had passed, i.e. it was 23h40/23h45 Swedish time;
- at first there was an additional sound with this bom - an enormous bom-bom - then came bom. - he was lying awake and then came the next BOM. This was definitely a different noise, now the sea was higher and they were proceeding slowly against it and then came the next VROM BOM, now they were smashing in the hull plates of the vessel and then there was also a CRASH.
- Now they must go down to half speed was his next thought, and the engines stopped.
- Had they reduced to half ahead he would not have felt uneasy, but to stop the engines? Engines are not stopped from full ahead and at that time the vessel had not yet started to list to starboard.
- Ca. 1 minute after the engines had stopped the vessel listed to starboard (20°),
- It took him ca. 5 min. to reach Deck 7 (2 decks up) and then the vessel had a list of already ca. 45°.
Note: The vessel is fitted with 2 pitch propellers which can be controlled either directly or via the combinator. In all probability the pitch propellers were working in the combinator mode, i.e. to reduce the speed from full to e.g. slow ahead the pitch was reduced and through the combinator subsequently also the revolutions according to a certain electronic program. A passenger in a cabin or in some restaurant can notice a pitch change only by a change of vibration. If, for example, the pitch is changed to maintain a speed of 6 kn the vibration level will totally disappear in the passenger cabin and the passenger has the impression that the engines have stopped.Additional Protocol 2.10.94
- Bogren has in the course of his working life also worked at a shipyard and is therefore acquainted with metallic noises. He also in a way is acquainted with the sea as he has a pleasure boat.
- Bogren described the sound as if somebody was beating with a sledge-hammer against vessel's shell plating or hull. He noticed the noise 3 times within 2 minutes.
- He had the impression that the noises came from forward, port side and from below.
- Bogren stated that the vessel did not roll, but was pitching against the waves.Summary of the observations made / noises heard by passengers on Deck 5:
Before the list started:
- steel plates were knocking against steel plates,
- ca. 23h40/23h45 Swedish time = 00h40/00h45 ship's time the first unusual noise: BOM appeared - followed by bom-bom - then came the next BOM, then VROM BOM (thought the hull plates would be smashed in) followed by a CRASH ! Then the engines stopped and ca. 1 minute later - starboard list, i.e. 01h02.Deck 4 :
This deck is located directly above the cardeck and approximately the forward 2/3 are arranged for passenger accommodation. In the aft 1/3 there are conference rooms at the starboard side, the cinema in the center and some bar/restaurant facilities at the port side. As demonstrated by the below stated extracts of statements made by survivors, the persons having been on this deck - located above the cardeck and being on same level with the forecastle deck - have made most important observations according to the summaries below:
In the forward part there were:at port outside: Anders Eriksson Einar Kuk
port inner side: Mikael Öun Eckard Klug
starboard outside: Tony SpuhlThe respective statements are summarised as follows:
Anders Eriksson - cabin 4131 - 45 years.
- was on bridge at 20h00/20h30 - noted course 262°, wind: 20 m/sec. - 2 watch officers,
- went to cabin at 22h15 (Swedish time), but impossible to sleep, each time the vessel met a wave it was shaking/vibrating severely;
- ca. 24h00 (Swedish time) came suddenly 2 heavy bangs, one straight after the other, he realized 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 and only ca. 20 m away from the visor hinges);
- 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 listed to starboard (he 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 upright itself again, which did not happen. 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°.
- At Deck 7 he opened the door to outside with 2 other persons.Einar Kuk - Trainee officer - cabin 4103
- at about 00h00 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).
- There he saw Silver Linde in the door at about 00h40. Kuk left after some minutes and went to his cabin. There he arrived at 00h50, 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 took a starboard list, 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.Mikael Öun - cabin 4217 - 29.9.94
- was in bed but could not sleep,
- close to 01h00 he noted that the vessel's movements changed, i.e. whilst the vessel had so far been pitching it now started to roll 3°-5°,
- after a heavy wave impact he heard 2-3 severe scraping noises from forward - this was at 01h01
- followed by a slight listing to starboard and some things fell down,
- directly thereafter followed a very severe listing and now everything loose was rushing to starboard.Mikael Öun - cabin 4217 - 4.10.94
- was in bed and continuously heard banging noises which he believed were 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 took a severe list.
- 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 list suddenly increased severely and everything loose moved toward the cabin door.
- he got out of his bed, put on some clothes and removed the loose objects from the door in order to open it.
- before he left the cabin he took his camera and the alarm clock.
- the alarm clock had stopped at 00h02 (Swedish time) because the moment it fell from the table, due to the sudden listing, the batteries had become disengaged and the clock stopped.
- Consequently the time of the 1st heavy listing to starboard was 01h02 ship's time.Eckard Klug - cabin 4214 - 54 years.
- 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 cardeck;
- 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 list started;
- when he reached the boat-deck the list was about 30°.Tony Spuhl - cabin 4313 - 6.10.94 - (2nd cabin from forward starboard outside)
- 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 cardeck.
- he was lying still in his bed and heard this rushing sound once more.
- his wife 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 listed suddenly to starboard.In the aft part of Deck 4 behind the reception area the following persons have made relevant observations:
Morten Boje Jensen - cabin 4603 -
28 years. (Danish) statement taken by the Copenhagen police 6.10.94.
- ca. 22h40 Swedish time in bed - 23h00 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 listed 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.Anneli Konrad - cabin 4620 - dance girl
- shared cabin with Hanneli Veide, both were making first trip, thus were not yet acquainted with the vessel; - last performance ended at ca. 00h30, whereafter she made her way to her cabin;
- she got lost and ended by the lift at the 2nd cardeck, where she heard a "crash";
- came finally to her cabin, felt sick, no water in toilet;
Note: Henrik Silaste was working on the 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 listed.Tom Olav Jonsson - cabin 4405 (3rd cabin at starboard side behind the reception area)
- He was in his cabin and had just completed his toilet/washroom matters when the vessel suddenly listed to starboard and did not come upright again.
- He looked out of his window straight into the sea and saw the waves smashing against the window.
Note: In upright condition the windows on 4th Deck are 8,8 m above waterline, at a starboard list of 20° the windows are still ca. 4,5 m above water level. If the vessel would still have been on or about a course of 287°, i.e. with wind and sea some 3-4 points from port side, the starboard side would be the lee side and no waves would smash 4,5 m up against windows. It has thus to be assumed that the vessel at the time of the first severe starboard list had altered course to port already and was probably heading South.Marek Kasik - Deck passenger in some room in the aft part of Deck 4 -
- time 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 listing.Magnus Lindström - cabin 4429 (starboard outside aft part)
- Magnus and his wife went to bed early, but due to the heavy pitching and rolling of the vessel it was difficult to sleep.
- at midnight he heard strange noises, was awake and noted that the noises came from the cardeck, it appeared as if something was rolling over the cardeck;
- after the rolling he heard one heavy bang and at the same time the vessel took a slight list of 10-15° to starboard. It is difficult to state that more exactly as the vessel was still pitching and rolling.Kersim Nisamcioglu - in the cinema - aft part of Deck 4
- shortly before the list started the vessel began to roll equally in the waves from side to side and he means that then the vessel did not have the sea from ahead. At that time he did not feel the engines;
- in connection with this rolling the vessel listed to starboard and he heard something below them rushing over to starboard. According to the noise this came from some place below them (Note: They were on Deck 4, i.e. above cardeck.) and must have been some large object;
- shortly after this noise he felt that the vessel listed more to starboard; - they came to the Information Desk, where there were 2 girls who refused to talk to them - were totally helpless.Hannu Seppänen - Deck 4
- at ca. 24h00 ship's time he went to the Night Club on Deck 4, but sat outside watching the sea/storm;
- some time later he felt unusual shaking/vibrating in the vessel's hull. These shocks were really shaking the vessel and he felt uneasy thinking whether the trucks were really well secured;
- he decided to go to his cabin and walked up to Deck 5, had a brief look into the Karaoke Bar and continued to his cabin;
- when he was in the area of the Tax Free Store the vessel suddenly listed to (port) starboard to 15°, 10 seconds later the listing continued and stopped and continued immediately thereafter further to 40°.Pierre Thiger - Karaoke Pub on Deck 4 - 3.10.94 with A. Hakanpäa
- ca. 23h45 (Swedish time) = 00h45 ship's time he heard a dull bang and ca. ½ minute later a similar bang, these were really sharp and short sounds which he clearly heard in spite of the music. The vessel was shaking somewhat. The noises were not created by waves striking against the bow;
- ca. 3 minutes after he had heard the mentioned noises he felt that the vessel was swinging/rocking athwartships (Note: He probably means pitching.) not just from side to side. He was very surprised about the behaviour of the vessel. - these swinging movements repeated themselves 3-4 times simultaneously, the vessel was shaking somewhat;
- Pierre Thiger has spent some time at sea and has experience with the behaviour of large vessels, therefore he observed rather closely the behaviour of "Estonia".
- ca. 10 minutes after he had heard the before mentioned noises the vessel began to roll from side to side, and thereafter remained with a starboard list of 10°-15°; - the vessel did not return to normal;
- he is of the opinion that it was some minutes before 24h00 (Swedish time) when the vessel took the first heavy starboard list;
- they left the bar immediately and when they reached the exit the vessel listed further to ca. 30°, at which it steadied;
- the only crew member they saw was carrying a walkie-talkie or the like;
- when he reached Deck 7 the list was ca. 35°, increasing;
- at ca. 45° the lights went out, but returned, - he saw the port stabilizer fin which was still in operation.
Note: At that time the auxiliary engines were still running, because the emergency generator does not feed the stabilizers.Summary of observations made/noises heard by people in cabins on Deck 4
Before the starboard list:a.) First noises / extraordinary shaking / vibrating of vessel / crash.
b.) Speed reduced / engines reduced / engines stopped.
c.) Movements on cardeck.
d.) Several bangs and starboard list.
e.) Observations after the starboard list.as to a.) First noises / extraordinary shaking / vibrating of vessel / CRASH
- Ca. 23h45 (Swedish time) = 00h45 ship's time he heard a dull bang and ca. ½ minute later a similar bang, these were really sharp and short sounds which he clearly heard in spite of the music. The vessel was shaking somewhat. The noises were not created by waves striking against the bow;
- after a while he heard an enormous crash and the whole vessel was shaking / vibrating;
- got lost and ended up on the 2nd cardeck, where she heard a CRASH;
- time before the vessel fell on the side he felt that the vessel's whole construction was suddenly shaking;
- some time later he felt unusual shaking/vibrating of the vessel's hull, these shocks were really shaking the vessel and he felt uneasy thinking whether the trucks were really secured.as to b.) Speed reduced / engines reduced / engines stopped
- He noted after a while that the engine noises became different and he got the impression that the vessel reduced the speed;
- shortly before the list started the vessel began to roll equally in the waves from side to side and he means that then the vessel did not have the sea from ahead. At that time he did not feel the engines;
- he looked out of the window and is not really sure whether the vessel was proceeding ahead or was lying still (did not move).as to c.) Movements on cardeck
- Was in bed, heard many bangs which he had never heard on his many previous, in his opinion these were cars floating on the cardeck;
- at midnight he heard strange noises, was awake and noted that the noises came from the cardeck, it appeared as if something was rolling over the cardeck.as to d.) Several bangs, etc. and starboard list
- Cabin 24h00 Swedish time = 01h00 ship's time came suddenly 2 heavy bangs, one straight after the other, he realized that something must be wrong, thus got up and dressed himself
- he had the feeling that the nosies came from nearby his cabin (2nd cabin port outside from forward and only ca. 20 m away from the visor hinges);
- 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 listed to starboard (he walked ca. 32 m, i.e. incl. opening door, looking out and walking ca. 32 m it should have taken ca. 1 minute);
- At 00h50 he 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 took a starboard list, he cannot say how much;
- 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 took a severe list.;
- 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 list suddenly increased severely and everything loose moved toward the cabin door;
- the alarm clock had stopped at 00h02 Swedish time = 01h02 ship's time because the moment it fell from the table, due to the sudden listing, the batteries had become disengaged and the clock stopped.
- Ca. 3 minutes after he had heard the first noises he felt that the vessel was swinging/rocking athwartships (Note: He probably means pitching.) not just from side to side. He was very surprised about the behaviour of the vessel;
- these swinging movements repeated themselves 3-4 times simultaneously, the vessel was shaking somewhat and ca. 10 minutes after he had heard the first noises the vessel began to roll from side to side, and thereafter remained with a starboard list of 10°-15°.
- In connection with this rolling the vessel listed to starboard and he heard something below them rushing over to starboard. According to the noise this came from some place below them (Note: They were on Deck 4, i.e. above cardeck.) and must have been some large object;
- shortly after this noise he felt that the vessel listed more to starboard.
- 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 cardeck;
- he was lying still in his bed and heard this rushing sound once more;
- his wife 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 listed suddenly to starboard.
- 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 listed 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.
- After the rolling he heard one heavy bang and at the same time the vessel took a slight list of 10-15° to starboard. It is difficult to state that more exactly as the vessel was still pitching and rolling.
- 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 listed.
- He decided to go to his cabin and walked up to Deck 5, had a brief look into the Karaoke Bar and continued to his cabin;
- when he was in the area of the Tax Free Store the vessel suddenly listed to (port) starboard to 15°, 10 seconds later the listing continued and stopped and continued immediately thereafter further to 40°.as to e.) Observations after the starboard list
- He was in his cabin and had just completed his toilet/washroom matters when the vessel suddenly listed to starboard and did not come upright again;
- he looked out of his window straight into the sea and saw the waves smashing against the window.
- They came to the Information Desk, where there were 2 girls, who refused to talk to them
- the girls were totally helpless.Deck 1 :
This deck is located below the cardeck and is divided as follows (fwd. to aft):
- forepeak tank
- bow thruster room
- waterballast tank
- 6 compartments passenger cabins
- 2 compartments engine control room (ECR) workshop, etc., main engine casing
- 4 compartments provision/store area.The passenger accommodation was accessible by 2 person lifts and 6 stairways inside the centre casing. The forward lift and the stairway in the 4th compartment continued down to 0-Deck level (swimming pool, saunas), the remainder ended on 1st Deck level. The store area was accessible by 2 large lifts and 1 stairway. The person lifts had opening to starboard side only with sills of 100 mm height, the fwd. store lift had a door to starboard, whilst the aft one had doors to both sides. Both store lifts had no sills at all. The sliding doors on cardeck level leading from cardeck into the centre casing above the 1st Deck had sills of 130 mm above the 100 mm sill running around the centre casing just interrupted in way of the 2 store lifts, i.e. the sills of the sliding doors had a total height of 230 mm.
The statements of passengers having been in cabins below the cardeck and having made relevant observations / heard relevant noises shall be summarised as follows:
Martin Nilsson - cabin 1027 - 22 years.
- to bed 23h00-23h30, noticed heavy movements of vessel and lots of cracking noises. He also heard that something was frequently heavily beating against the vessel;
- about 10-15 minutes before the accident became a fact he woke up from the heavy movement of the vessel, heard a scraping noise, i.e. it was cracking and scraping very close to him on the deck above him. This was (for him) the introduction to the developments which ended in the catastrophe.
- a little later Martin felt that the noises were connected to the shaking of the vessel and thereafter the vessel began to list notably, whilst at the same time the noises from the shaking/vibrating were still there and somebody said: "Now we have run aground." So well it was noticeable.
- he left the cabin and jumped up one flight of stairs to the next deck, where he noted some cm of water on the bottom; - when he had reached the boatdeck he observed 2 crew members talking into walkie-talkies;
- a search light was shining from vessel's side into the water; - saw the lights of a ferry far away.Bengt Nilsson - cabin 1026 - 35 years.
- the vessel left the berth when they entered the restaurant, i.e. at 19h30 board time or later (because restaurant only opens at 19h30);
- went at 22h00 on deck also to forward - could not see anything unnormal - it was very dark;
- was there twice again later - no change except increasing storm and higher seas;
- at ca. 23h00 - must be Swedish time - he went to bed, but could not sleep due to heavy labouring of the vessel and something beating frequently against the hull very heavily;
- he noted after an hour or so that it began to roar (scream, howl), to squeak and shriek and scrape, and formed the opinion that something was wrong.
- When he had reached that conclusion the vessel started to list to starboard.
- He opened his door and saw Martin Nilsson jumping past him.
- When he reached the deck above (cardeck) he saw water coming from walls and streaming over the bottom and walls. It was rising.
- He stated also that he saw something along the walls which looked like some powder.Ants Nadar - cabin 1025 - 46 years.
- was in bed - woke up due to hard banging noises, started to climb up to deck when the vessel suddenly listed to starboard.Antti Arak: cabin 1056 - 21 years
"At first I heard screaming and then I saw water running in the alleyway. I heard no engine noises when we were pulling us up the stairs. The lights were normal until we reached the railing on Deck 7, when it began to blink."Ain-Alar Juhanson: cabin 1056 - 18 years
- at Turku 29.9.94: "Whilst I slept I heard a heavier bang which I had heard before already, but not so heavy. After that bang the vessel suddenly listed to starboard. All 4 of us woke up, grabbed our clothes and jumped into the alleyway, where we noted water."
at Tallinn 29.9.94: "We were one of the last to enter the cardeck with our Mercedes bus. We were all sleeping in our cabin when we woke up from heavy metallic bangs. Due to these noises it was impossible to hear any engine noises. After the mentioned metallic bangs the vessel listed to starboard."Neemi Künno Kalk - cabin 1122
- woke up from loud rushing noise and saw from the angle at which his coat was hanging on the wall that the vessel listed about 45°, ran up and saw water on cardeck.Carl Övberg - cabin 1049 - 42 years.
- has made several voyages with "Estonia" and other ferries;
- has technical background, went to his cabin at about 23h00 (Swedish time), but could not sleep;
- after about 1 hour, ca. 24h00 (Swedish time) he heard a well known sound: the hydraulic sound which occurs when the visor is opened or closed;
- after he heard this sound he got up and took a cigarette;
- just after 24h00 (Swedish time) when he was still smoking his cigarette, he heard a bang or crash. It was a strong metallic noise, which he did not know and could not identify;
- after 1 or 2 minutes he heard the same noise again;
- when he left his cabin - ca. 01h20 he felt that the vessel went down by the stern a short while and immediately thereafter was turning (possibly tilting) and took a starboard list;
- he knew his way up and when he passed the cardeck he saw water penetrating.
Note: The starboard list occurred at 01h02 and was felt by Öberg after he had left his cabin already, thus 01h20 has to be an incorrect estimation.Carl-Erik Reintamm - cabin 1094.
- ca. 23h00/23h30 in bed;
- suddenly he heard 2 heavy, strange scraping noises which apparently came from below;
- he felt also that the cabin was tilting, but just a little bit;
- he opened the door and saw a small stream of water behind one alleyway wall on the floor;
- vessel had only a small list at that time, rushed up to 4th Deck and reported to 2 crew members that there was water on 1st Deck, whereafter they both ran down;
- the list increased.Jaan Stern - cabin 1122 - 53 years (Estonian)
- most forward cabin directly adjacent to the water ballast tanks;
- was in cabin which he had to leave, because water was already entering the cabin;
- heard immediately before casualty that waves were beating very hard against the vessel.Ulla Marianne Tenmann - cabin 1098 - 30 years.
- was in cabin before the casualty;
- heard some time before several hard bangs and something beating against something which she considered strange, and therefore decided to go up to Deck 7 and wait what would happen;
- after she had been sometime on Deck 7 she heard a heavy bang and subsequently the vessel took a list.Holger Wachtmeister - cabin 1047 - 41 years.
- he was awakened by a scraping noise and a hard bang - the scraping noise continued;
- he got up and dressed and left the cabin when the list started;
- water when he passed cardeck possibly already below in front of his cabinJasmina Waidinger - cabin 1027 - 19 years.
- ca. 23h30 (Swedish time) to bed
- heard strange and unnormal noises from forward; she also heard the noises of the stabilizers when she suddenly noticed the noise of slowly running water above her
- she looked at her watch - it was 24h00 Swedish time;
- a little later she heard a heavy sound above her cabin ceiling and something large was moving from one point to the other creating scraping noises;
- thereafter the first list occurred and water was noted in the alleyway before the cabin.Taavi Raba - Reefer engineer assistant - cabin 1070.
- was in bed half sleeping, became alarmed when the vessel did not roll evenly any more and took a starboard list;
- had to jump through a water curtain to reach the stairway leading from 1st Deck upwards.Andrus Maidre - cabin 1022 -
- was in the cabin when he heard, just before or almost at the same time that the vessel started to list, metallic scraping noises and the moving/falling of heavy object;
- also the ringing of a clock began with the listing.Tambet Herbert Lausma - cabin 1023 -
- was in bed and slept, woke up by loud noises and that vessel took a heavy list to starboard;
- on the way up he saw water running on cardeck level.Gennadi Mikhail Pärson - cabin 1013 -
- was in bed, but could not sleep
- heard before the catastrophe strange noises
- cannot say exactly from where the noises came, but he got the expression that something like a barrel was rolling against something;
- when he felt the listing, he dressed and ran up.Dainis Sleiners - cabin 1015 -
- was in bed and woke up, a heavy bang followed by the list
- he did not hear the engines anymore - which he had done before;
- he remembers having heard a low undefinable strange noise when he was still dozing before he was woken up by the heavy bang;
- on his way up he passed the 2nd Deck, i.e. the first cardeck and saw water in the alleyway.Deck 1 - Engine Room Area
Since 00h00 the engine room was occupied by:
3rd Eng. Margus Treu Motorman Hannes Kadak
At ca. 00h30 system engineer Henrik Silaste was called down to repair the vacuum system on 0-Deck level.Hannes Kadak - Motorman
- testified on 29th September, 1994 to the Criminal Police in Turku:
- commenced his watch in the engine room at 00h00, made an inspection round of the engine room and returned to the ECR, whereafter Margus Treu made his round;
- sometime later the bridge ordered to activate the stabilizers;
- at 00h46 he saw water penetrating the right side of the bow ramp and thought it was rain water, did not report it to anybody;
- when Margus Treu returned to the ECR he went to the workshop next to the ECR and on same deck, and did some work;
- suddenly the vessel listed to starboard, he walked back to the ECR where Treu was watching the monitor and said: "The situation is serious" or "bad" "because the ramp has been struck and became broken.";
- saw on the monitor that there were high waves on the cardeck and the water level had already reached the height of the personal cars;
- thereafter the light began to blink which means "boat alarm";
- then Henrik Silaste came in and the watertight doors closed again;
Note: Kadak ran from the workshop to the ECR after the sudden starboard list had occurred, which took him less than 1 minute as the workshop was practically next door. As the list occurred at 01h02 Kadak was in the ECR at 01h03 where Treu was watching the monitor and said: "The situation is serious. The ramp has been struck and became broken." This means that something must have struck the ramp before 01h03 to the effect that it became broken, which resulted in large water quantities entering the cardeck which, together with the water quantity having accumulated on the cardeck already during the past hours, caused the vessel to list suddenly and rapidly to starboard.
Margus Treu - 3rd Engineer - (only watch-officer having survived).
28.9.94 - Statement to the Crinimal Police, Turku:
- ca. 01h00 felt 2 double, hard bangs from forward;
- 01h15 saw on the monitor in the ECR that water penetrated the cardeck via the ramp. At the same time he heard the watch AB report about water on cardeck;
- ca. 01h20 the bridge asked whether it would be possible to create a list to port, which it was not, because the port tank was full and the starboard one empty;
- thereafter he established that the starboard list had already increased by 1 degree and from that moment increased rapidly;
- at a list of 30-35° the 2 port main engines stopped; an attempt to restart the engines failed;
- "We continued to make 5-6 knots."
- A moment later the 4th engine followed by the 3rd engine stopped also. The auxiliaries continued to produce power.
- Ca. 01h30 the list was 45° and also the auxiliaries stopped and the emergency generator on Deck 8 started.
- The bridge asked whether it would be possible to pump overboard freshwater, which it was not as there was no more power for the pumps.
- Left the ECR and reached the 8th Deck via emergency exit when the list was practically 90°.Note: The timing of Margus Treu must be wrong in some respect, i.e.
- his noting the 2 double hard bangs at ca. 01h00 is in agreement with the other statements;
- at 01h15 he certainly saw water still entering the cardeck, but he does not state that he saw it already before 01h03 (when Kadak came into the ECR after the sudden list), so his timing is probably 13-15 minutes wrong, possibly he saw the ramp fully open at 01h15;
- this is also confirmed by his statement that the list at 01h30 was 45°, which it actually was already at ca. 01h15, whilst at 01h30 the vessel was on the side.Margus Treu - 3.10.94
- Statement taken by the Security Police, Tallinn:
- was in the ECR, all 4 main engines were running and the vessel was making a speed of ca. 14,5 kn;
- heard 2 hard blows one after the other which did not result from wave impact;
- saw on the monitor after the noises that large quantities of water were being pressed through at the sides of the ramp, at the ramp itself, or at its sides there were no sealings.
- Before the noises he saw also AB Silver Linde on the monitor at about 01h00 or 5 minutes later;
- At the casualty none of the main engines were running at full revolutions or full ahead. The mates are fixing the power output.
- The cardeck cannot be pumped out, but there were 12 scuppers at each side leading the water outboard.
- On the cardeck the cars were unable to topple over because there was no space. They could move against each other (forward/aft direction)..
- There were lots of cars. No empty space. At the sides there was ca. 20-25 cm space.
- From the bridge he received 2 orders: - to pump more water to the port side which was impossible; - to pump overboard freshwater which failed.Note: In this statement Treu mentions only 01h00 respectively 01h05 when he claims to have seen Linde on the monitor, which could make sense in connection with the hydraulic noises heard by Carl Övberg just before or at about 01h00 when Linde probably started the hydraulic pump and tried to close the bow ramp and possible hold down the visor hydraulically when he operated the handles wrongly and broke the visor hinges (see observations of Carl Övberg). He also does not mention the starboard list. In any event he has made it quite clear that the water ingress through the bow ramp is connected to the 2 hard double bangs.
Finally we shall discuss the testimony of Valters Kikuts
- a Latvian policeman having been in the port side stairway on Deck 7 between the cabins of 1st Engineer Arvo Tulvik and 2nd Engineer Peeter Tüür. When being questioned by the Finnish Police on 29.9.94 he stated as follows:
- He and his friend selected the above explained location for their night rest as they were deck-passengers; Kikuts had a Motorola Digital watch which was on Latvian = Estonian = ship's time.
- They settled in the stairway before 23h30 as this is the first time he mentioned when they observed that the vessel rolled heavily.
- At about 00h00 he looked through the front window and noted severe heaving movements of the bow which resulted in sea/bow being sometimes on the same level. Then a lot of water gushed onto the forecastle deck. The waves became heavier and more water appeared to come onto the forecastle deck. He also explained that he saw a big search light spreading light ca. 10 m in front of the bow.Note: As there was no search light on top of the visor one or both ice search lights on top of the bridge wings were probably switched on and focused in an area before the bow.
- He stated to have looked at his watch the last time at 00h28 and thereafter secured the watch under the band of his trousers, apparently because he had seen just before viz. at about 00h26 that a considerable part of the bow had been bouncing up whereafter that part rose and sank. An athwartships gap opened/closed through which water was splashing up, possibly strongest at starboard side. The vessel went straight against wind and sea at that moment. At the same time the search light went out and the engine sound could not be heard anymore. After water had cascaded from the gap the bow appeared to sink below the water surface. At that time Kikuts and his friend decided to go to the open deck.
Note: Based on Kikuts's testimony it has to be assumed that the whole matter took only some minutes, i.e. from the moment the bow bounced up with the athwartships gap opening/closing a couple of times and water cascading out/surging in and finally the visor disappearing below water. Although he does not mention the starboard list at the early stage it has to be assumed that the 2 left for the open deck when the vessel took the abrupt starboard list at 01h02. If that should have been so the visor hinges broke around 00h55 which fits in well with observations/noises heard by other passengers. Also Kikuts's observation that wind/sea came from straight ahead, although the vessel should have been on 287° and have wind and sea from 5-6 points on the port bow and further that he felt the engine no longer fits in very well with the observations of other passengers, i.e. the vessel was slowly turning to port with reduced speed.
- Kikuts further testified that he had been one of the last ones to drive onboard the ferry, thus his car was close to the bow ramp, but that he was the last time on cardeck at 18h30 (should probably be 19h30 as the last cars drove onboard around 19h00). His car was not secured (he stated that to be normal having already made ca. 30 trips with "Estonia") and also the heavy trucks just had wedges in front of the tires.
Note: The statement of Kikuts would also be timewise approximately in agreement with other relevant statements if he would have observed the visor bouncing open at about 00h56 instead of 00h26. He has given a statement to us last July with some drawings attached which is enclosed as enclosure No. 3.
Final Statement
When the survivors were questioned by the police they were also asked what was the cause of the catastrophe. Most of them have not answered this question, some have said it was the water on the cardeck which is certainly right, but how did it get onto the cardeck? Below are extracts of some statements with certain indications, partly being hearsay evidence:
(a) Ainus Toobal - Estonian truck driver: "As to the cause of the accident I can say that at the vessel's forepart where the cars are driving in water had started to rush in."
(b) Eckard Klug - Swedish truck driver: 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.
(c) Paula Liikamaa - Croupier in the board casino: "Whilst in the hospital she overheard a conversation between a crew member from the "Estonia", who was also watchman on "Estonia", speaking to another person whom she could not identify. They were speaking in Estonian to each other. "The watchman, whose first name is Ervin and surname is Rhoden (Note: It is the security officer Ervin Rhoden), said that he had switched on his walkie-talkie when he was in his cabin and heard another watchman - Silver Linde - say over his walkie-talkie that he was on the cardeck, that is, at least, what Paula understood. Silver Linde had said further that there was a lot water on the cardeck and that they must leave the vessel." That according to Paula is the contents of the conversation between Ervin Rhoden and the unknown man in Södersjukhuset."
Note: The statement of Ervin Rhoden mentions absolutely nothing about the above which must have been before 01h02 the moment of the sudden list, whereafter everybody was just trying to survive. It is unknown to us and not reflected in our documentation whether Ervin Rhoden was ever confronted with this statement. According to our documentation the Swedish / Finnish Commission members did not talk to him at all so far.Alti Hakanpää - passenger -
- Speaks and understands the Estonian language.
- Was rescued by the "Mariella" and spoke onboard with an Estonian crew member: The contents of this conversation was protocolled by the Swedish Police as follows: "Hakanpää got the impression that the man was working on the cardeck. The man reported that he had been on the cardeck before the vessel took the list. At that time there had been ca. 50 cm high water on the cardeck. The man did not report any more details about the cardeck. He told him in addition that they had personnel onboard trained for employment lateron on "Diana II"." Note: As Silver Lilnde was not rescued by "Mariella" this crew member having worked on the cardeck before the list started must have been either Aulis Lee or Aarne Koppel. Also here we do not know whether the police and/or the Commission followed up this important statement. Hakanpää has told journalists what else he heard from the discussions between the Estonian crew members first on the liferaft and subsequently onboard of "Mariella" when they had not yet realized that he understood their language. This, however, is not part of this summary and is being dealt with elsewhere in our report.Conclusion
Based on the above summarised and partly commented statements of relevant passengers and crew members it has to be concluded that the "Sequence of Events" must have been somewhat different from what the International Commission has so far submitted and also what the authors Anders Hellberg and Anders Jörle assume in their book "Katastrofen Kurs". This can only be explained by the apparent fact that neither the Commission nor the authors have - so far - carefully scrutinised the passengers' statements which - in combination with the statements of the crew members from the engine department - do explain what and when it happened.
The detailed evaluation of the testimony available to us indicates that
(a) there was water on the cardeck well before the casualty sequence-of-events commenced;
(b) there were certain quantities of water on the 1st Deck, i.e. deck below cardeck, in particular in the forward part, already before the sudden starboard list started;
(c) the vessel's trim had changed since the departure from Tallinn from down by the stern to down by the bow because of the full visor, and the water having entered the cardeck via the damaged bow ramp and other openings;
(d) there had been severe crash noises on the cardeck at approximately 00h45/00h50 and probably the bow ramp was smashed open from the inside of the cardeck, but was prevented from falling into the visor by its hydraulic cylinders resisting the opening movements, however, the water quantities streaming onto the cardeck from the full inside of the visor rapidly increased;
(e) this was apparently reported to those on the bridge by Silver Linde and the speed was reduced and the bow turned into the wind/sea, i.e. to port, the starboard list increased slightly simultaneously Silver Linde was instructed to close the bow ramp hydraulically;
(f) After having started the hydraulic pumps, he may have mixed up the handles on the panel and activated the actuator of the visor which broke at first the much weakened hinges at starboard and subsequently the port ones, followed by the side locks, whilst the Atlantic lock remained intact for the time being;
(g) the visor was then moving forward/aft between the hinge plates at vessel's side and the deck beam at frame 159 which created the noises compared by many passengers and crew to a sledge-hammer beating against the hull, the gap on forecastle deck as well as at both sides opened and closed and the water penetration into visor and, consequently, also through the partly open bow ramp onto the cardeck increased substantially;
(h) the vessel took a sudden and considerable starboard list at 01h02 which after ca. 2 minutes was already 20°: which required 800 ts water on the cardeck, the list increased further.
(j) the vessel continued to turn to port, but more rapidly because with the increasing starboard list the still active starboard stabilizer fin took over the function of a rudder blade and made the vessel turn to port (fin is down to counter the starboard listing) rather quickly whilst the rudder blades, although being at hard astarboard, had little or no effect due to the list compared to the stabilizer fin, list had exceeded 30° at about 01h10 and the main engines stopped;
(k) the visor broke off and the ramp was totally open at about 01h15 when the list was in excess of 40°, auxiliaries stopped and the emergency generator started, the stabilizer fins stopped moving up and down;
(l) the vessel, stabilized at a list of between 40°-50°, was then already heading approximately SE, i.e. the funnel pointing in the direction where the wind came from;
(m) the vessel was on her side at 01h31 when also the emergency generator stopped.
(n) It has to be assumed that the visor separated from the vessel at about 01h15 (was probably seen by Margus Treu on the monitor) and that the Atlantic lock broke shortly before as is demonstrated by the bending to of the visor lug to starboard.In summary of the 75 pages before it has to be concluded that the primary cause of the casualty is the
a.) water filled visor in combination with the damaged/leaking bow ramp which - under the prevailing circumstances and by the impossibility to adjust any starboard list as the port ballast tanks were already full upon sailing - led to a slowly flooding of parts of the cardeck including down flooding into 1st Deck and
b.) that the extremely hard setting-in of vessel's bow into short high seas from port ahead created by the vessel proceeding under the circumstances at too high speed caused improper and/or not at all secured cars to crash against the bow ramp - also being improperly secured - which became pushed open allowing even larger quantities of water to enter the cardeck.The subsequent attempt by crew members to close the ramp and to hold down the visor hydraulically failed totally and led to breaking of the visor hinges
- by its extremely weak condition due gross negligent repair attempts
- which further increased the water ingress through the partly open bow ramp and led to a sudden 20° starboard list. Due to the continuously streaming-in of water through the partly open bow ramp
- the vessel was meanwhile on a south-easterly heading due to the rudder effect of the starboard stabilzer fin with her deep starboard side now exposed fully to wind/sea
- the list increased until the vessel stabilized for some time at between 40°-50°, and thereafter quickly listed to 90°. The visor separated from the vessel probably at about 01h15 and the bow ramp was fully open for some time which certainly increased the water ingress onto cardeck even more, however, at that time the vessel had a list of ca. 40° already with all 4 main engines shut-off and lying with the deep starboard side exposed to the heavy beam seas, thus being in a hopeless condition with capsizing/sinking being just a question of minutes.
