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Under the German flag, the dive took place in September last year on the Estonian wreck, the passenger ship that sank in the Baltic Sea 26 years ago in a disaster that cost 852 lives. The dives were paid for by a television company and the resulting documentary reveals information about a previously unknown injury: a four-meter-long crack in the Estonian hull.
The previously unknown damage was discovered when video footage of the dive robot was examined. Linus Andersson from Gothenburg, a naval officer and specialist in sunken ship investigations, was present at the dives.
– I see this as a basis for future research. Today there are opportunities to do surveys that could not be done in the 90s, he tells DN.
The damage it has discovered in Estonia the hull is about four meters long and is embedded in the seabed.
– It starts as a crack and expands to about one and a half meters wide. It takes a boat building expert to make a clear statement about how it could have come about. With the information available today, it is not possible to draw any conclusions about how the damage occurred, or whether it was before or after the sinking of the ship, says Linus Andersson.
Using a technique called photogrammetry, changes in perspective measured between several different photos are used to create three-dimensional images of objects. The technology has been used by the team that conducted the dives in Estonia, among other things, to recreate the newly discovered damage.
Jørgen Amdahl, teacher in marine technology in Trondheim, says it cannot be ruled out that the damage was significant to the sinking process.
– It’s a pretty big opening and it looks like you’re looking into some kind of cockpit, significant hull damage. Without having studied it in more detail, there is a possibility that something has hit the ship with a lot of energy, says Jørgen Amdahl, who participates in the documentary series.
Another possibility Amdahl raises is that the ship’s side was pushed inward as it fell to the seabed.
– It should be investigated properly with an open mind, because although it may seem that Estonia has been beaten, it is difficult to say something for sure in terms of lighting and other things, he says.
Linus Andersson tells DN that he has been a bit concerned that the find will ignite conspiracy theories about the Estonia disaster.
– I have been concerned about how this will be portrayed because I do not support conspiracy theories. Now I haven’t seen any, so it’s okay. “We have been to the site and made a find quite simply,” he says.
Estonian bokvisir. The final report of the Accident Investigation Board indicated that Estonia sank after the bow visor was removed.
Photo: Lisa Mattisson
In a joint statement The foreign ministers of Sweden, Finland and Estonia now write that they have agreed to evaluate the data.
Diving near Estonia is prohibited as the wreck has the status of a cemetery. The use of a German flag boat for the dives is due to the fact that Germany has not ratified the law explicitly prohibiting diving in Estonia, which is located in international waters some 25 nautical miles south of Finnish Utö.
Linus Andersson and another Swede, Henrik Evertsson, who participated in the dives, are the subject of a Swedish lawsuit. The prosecution has been taken to the Gothenburg District Court, where the prosecutor Helene Gestrin wants to try the special law that was enacted after the Estonian disaster.
– The grave peace in Estonia has been violated by the incident, Nyheter Väst previously told SVT.
The question is about Swedish law. may prevail over international shipwreck regulations.
– A case against Henrik and I has been started and an investigation is underway. But I don’t want to say anything about it, Linus Andersson tells DN.
Read more: A man from western Sweden is suspected of diving near Estonia
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