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According to the chairman of the inquiry commission on the “MS Estonia” disaster, according to new information, the ferry sank due to a collision with a submarine. This is what Margus Kurm said on the Estonian TV show “Pealtnägija”.
Several Swedish media had previously reported that documentary makers had found a four-meter hole in the wreckage of the sunken Baltic Sea ferry. Monday September 28 will be the 26th anniversary of the accident. It is still considered the worst European maritime disaster since World War II.
The “MS Estonia” sank on the night of September 28, 1994 with 989 people on board on its way from Tallinn to Stockholm. In the middle of the night, the water suddenly entered the boat. 852 people were killed, including more than 500 Swedes and five Germans. The bodies of only 94 dead have been recovered, more than 750 victims still lie with the shipwreck off the southern coast of Finland.
How exactly this happened has been debated for years. Now movie recordings seem to solve this puzzle. “That means Estonia didn’t sink because a bow visor broke. It was a collision with something so big that it could create a four-meter hole, “Margus Kurm said on Estonian television. “This is evidence of something that has been speculated for a long time.”
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Because the crack is below the waterline and no other ship is known to have sunk, “the most likely reason is that Estonia collided with a submarine,” Krum said.
The images published by the Swede “Aftonbladet” show that the hole was found on the starboard side and was four meters high and 1.20 meters wide. It was found by filmmakers who had sent a diving robot to wreck for the five-part documentary series “Estonia: The Find That Changes Everything.” According to an agreement between several countries, this is actually prohibited because the wreck has the status of a cemetery.
The Estonian government wants to carry out a technical investigation
Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas spoke of significant new information in light of the new underwater recordings that had not been previously discussed and required a clear response. “A new technical investigation of the new circumstances in Estonia is necessary,” he said. Estonia would lead the process as the ship’s flag state.
Both Ratas and Chancellor Urmas Reinsalu stressed that an investigation would take into account the sepulchral peace imposed on the ferry. “It is our wish that the truth finally comes out,” said Rats. A joint statement by the Estonian, Finnish and Swedish foreign ministers sounded somewhat more cautious: the new information had been noted and is now being evaluated.
But you trust the official investigation report from 1997. According to the report, the ripped bow visor was the cause of the sinking. However, there is still speculation about the cause of the accident, survivors and grieving family members have been calling for the investigations to be restarted for years. (Tsp, dpa)
