Estonia (ship, 1980)
 Model of the Estonia in the Maritime Museum in Tallinn (Estonia)
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The Estonia was a RoPax - Baltic Sea ferry , on its way from September 28, 1994 Tallinn to Stockholm before the Finnish island of Utö sank. With 852 casualties, the sinking of the Estonia is the worst shipping disaster in European post-war history. The cause of the accident is unclear.
construction
planning
The ship was originally commissioned by a Norwegian shipping company to operate between Norway and Germany . However, this withdrew the order. The contract was then signed with the Ab Sally shipping company , a partner in the Viking Line shipping consortium . SF Line , which belongs to the same consortium, was also interested in the ship. The ship was originally designed as a sister ship to the Diana II, built in 1979 by the same shipyard for Rederi AB Slite, the third partner of Viking Line. However, when Ab Sally took over the production order, the original length of the ship was extended from 137 to 155 meters and the design of the superstructure was changed.
construction
The ship was built in 1980 by Meyer Werft in Papenburg , which had already built a large number of ships for the Viking Line during the 1970s. As was common with RoRo ships at the time, the bow construction consisted of an upward-opening bow visor and a bow ramp enclosed by it . A comparable bow construction was used on the Diana II , completed in 1979 , whose bow visor suffered damage in a storm on January 16, 1993 and was welded in response to the sinking of the Estonia in October 1994.
| 9 | Bridge deck bridge , sun deck astern |
| 8th | Weather deck with access to the sun deck and to the emergency generator room on the chimney |
| 7th | Crew cabins, promenade deck |
| 6th | Restaurant deck with buffet dining room, restaurant and bar; Outside and inside passenger cabins |
| 5 | Duty-free shops, cafeteria , snack bar , disco , seating, children's playroom, outside and inside passenger cabins |
| 4th | Conference deck with conference rooms, night club , cinema, outside and inside passenger cabins |
| 3 | Vehicle platform |
| 2 | Vehicle deck |
| 1 | Internal ship cabins, engine rooms |
| 0 | Sauna , swimming pool , conference rooms |
commitment
The ship sailed from 1980 to 1990 for the Finnish Viking Line as Viking Sally . At that time, a hitherto unsolved criminal case occurred on the ship: in July 1987 a young German couple with serious injuries was found in their sleeping bags on the helicopter deck of the ship. The couple from West Germany were flown to a hospital, where the 20-year-old man was pronounced dead. His 22-year-old girlfriend survived with serious injuries. In September 2020, the Finnish police said they had new information about the perpetrator, on the basis of which the trial should begin in 2021.
From 1990 to 1991 the ship sailed with Silja Line as Silja Star , from 1991 to 1992 finally with Wasa Line as Wasa King . In October 1992 it was sold to a Swedish - Estonian joint venture between Nordström & Thulin AB and the Estonian Shipping Co. and was named Estonia in 1993 (the English and Latin names for Estonia ). At that time she was the largest and most modern cruise ship under the Estonian flag and from then on served the Stockholm – Tallinn route in liner service .
On February 20, 1994, the Estonia hit the headlines after 64 Kurdish refugees from Iraq were rescued from a container shortly before suffocation. The group - including 26 children - had been locked in the container for nine hours without ventilation. A sailor spotted the refugees three hours after casting off in Tallinn when they were banging desperately against the container walls. A heat of 70 ° C. was measured in the container.
The downfall
 
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Sinking point with port of departure and port of destination |
The Estonia left the Estonian capital Tallinn on September 27, 1994 with a delay at around 7:17 p.m. (scheduled departure 7 p.m.) . She was under the command of the captain Arvo Andresson . Her second master, Avo Piht, was also on board, although he was actually off duty, as he was supposed to take a pilot's examination on this voyage. The arrival in Stockholm was planned for the next morning at 9 o'clock. The sequence of events that night could be reconstructed to some extent based on the statements of survivors of the sinking and the radio traffic after the Mayday emergency call from Estonia .
In heavy seas, water penetrated the Estonia after midnight, which is no longer comprehensible today . How this water ingress came about has not been clarified beyond doubt. There are various theories on this, from the ingress of water through the bow hatch to the assumption of a leak below the waterline.
Investigations later showed that the hinges of the bow hatch were exposed to heavy loads in the rough sea and broke during the journey. The inexperienced captain did not reduce speed despite the problems with the bow hatch. In the heavy swell, the bow visor broke away at around 01:15 a.m. and large amounts of water could penetrate the ship unhindered. Then the ferry got strong impact side and sank within a short time. Only a few minutes after the first emergency call "Mayday" at 1:22 am, which was intercepted and answered by other Swedish and Finnish ships in the vicinity, radio contact was lost at 1:29 am. A short time later, the Estonia disappeared from the radar screens of the surrounding ships and the military installations on land and on islands.
There are different testimonies about how and when the alarm was given. Around 1:15 a.m. there is said to have been a loudspeaker announcement in Estonian , Häire, häire, laeval on häire! ("Alarm, alarm, there is an alarm on the ship!"). Other witnesses report the encrypted announcement of the fire alarm Mr. Skylight Number One and Number Two . According to a surviving marine engineer, the general evacuation alarm is said to have been triggered immediately after this announcement.
Since the scene of the accident is in a relatively busy sea area, the Mariella , a ferry of the Viking Line, was at the scene of the accident about an hour after the radio contact was broken off . Strong waves up to 10 m high hampered the rescue measures. Only 137 people survived the accident. Most of the passengers could not leave the sinking ship because they had no time to escape into the open. Some of the passengers who managed to escape from the Estonia died of hypothermia in the approximately 13 ° C cold water of the Baltic Sea or on the life rafts . At least 852 people were killed in the largest peacetime shipping disaster to date on the Baltic Sea; only 94 of them were recovered.
The drowned passengers came from Denmark , Germany , Estonia , Finland , France , the United Kingdom , Canada , Latvia , Lithuania , Morocco , the Netherlands , Nigeria , Norway , Russia , Sweden , Ukraine and Belarus .
Young people and especially young men survived the accident to a greater extent than the other passengers. While 485 of the 989 people on board were women (49%), only 26 of the 137 survivors were women (19%). While 26 (43%) of the 60 young men between the ages of 20 and 24 on board were able to save themselves, only 4 out of a total of 40 (10%) women of the same age were able to save themselves. Of the 15 children (under 15 years of age) only one boy survived. The losses were particularly high among the 301 people aged 55 or over. Only 7 of them were able to save themselves, including 5 under the age of 65 and none over 75 years of age.
Many of the survivors still suffer from the psychological consequences today. A study published in 2011 that interviewed survivors 14 years after the disaster found that 27% of survivors reported significant symptoms of mental health problems.
Investigations into the cause of the accident
Immediately after the sinking, the directly affected countries Sweden, Estonia and Finland formed a commission of inquiry to investigate the causes of the sinking. The investigations dragged on until 1997; the result was published in an investigation report. Meyer Werft was faced with accusations of construction defects and defended itself against it in its own report. This criticized the fact that important evidence was kept under lock and key. These include parts of the recordings made by an underwater robot of the wreckage scattered on the sea floor. The central result was that the bow flap of the Estonia was not loosened by the sea, but rather blown off by at least two detonations below the waterline (see below).
Initially, the Swedish government wanted to enclose the entire site of the wreck with all parts of the wreck in a concrete sarcophagus in order to preserve the peace of the dead. This would have made further investigations largely impossible. However, according to the Finnish Estonia investigator Kari Lehtola, normal divers , like the Finnish Navy, cannot work at this depth of over 60 meters. 65 million German marks (33 million € ) would have amounted to the costs of this action. But even before the plan was approved in Stockholm, ships carried tons of rubble and rubble and poured them over the Estonia . Only massive protests by Swedish citizens and relatives stopped the company. As a result, a ban miles agreement was concluded, which creates a restricted area around the wreck of the Estonia . Eight of nine countries bordering the Baltic Sea and Great Britain have joined. Only Germany did not join, with the indication that there were no special regulations for later investigations into the cause.
The investigation report by the Estonian Prosecutor General, published on March 10, 2006, confirmed doubts about the final 1997 report of the official commission of inquiry and gave rise to speculation that a new independent investigation into the accident would be ordered.
In 2006, Sweden’s Justice Chancellor Göran Lambertz launched a new investigation into possible cover-up attempts by the Swedish government. Lambertz justified his step with new reports, according to which the wreck had been investigated by divers shortly after the ship disaster with the knowledge of the government in a secret operation. The Swedish military diver Håkan Bergmark had already reported on this secret diving operation at the end of 1999 in a TV interview with the journalist Jutta Rabe . The German news magazine “ Der Spiegel ” refused to publish this interview.
New studies 2020/2021
In September 2020, documentary filmmakers who had sent a diving robot to the wreck reported a previously unknown 4 × 1.20 meter hole in the ship's hull on the starboard side , whereupon the Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas called for a new investigation into the sinking of the ferry. The two Swedish members of the film expedition were charged in their home country for disturbing the peace of the dead , but were later acquitted because the dive was carried out in international waters and from a German ship.
After studying the film recordings and talking to survivors, the accident commissions of Sweden, Estonia and Finland recommended new examinations at the scene of the accident in December 2020. The Swedish Interior Minister Mikael Damberg then announced that the international agreement on the peace of the grave would be changed in the first half of 2021 so that investigations into the wreck would be possible.
Arms transport
At the end of 2004, a Swedish customs officer told the media that before the sinking, military electronics and weapon parts had been brought from Russia to the Estonia and that these transports were not allowed to be checked. This usual practice had occurred repeatedly and was ordered by higher authorities. Discrepancies were found on the loading lists during the accident.
The investigations were therefore officially resumed at the end of 2004. Among other things, the Swedish military admitted that military equipment had been transported on civilian ferries.
On December 13, 2006, the last working day of the parliamentary committee of inquiry in Estonia, which was supposed to research the background and facts that existed in the case of the transport of military goods on Estonia , the former Estonian Foreign Minister Trivimi Velliste surprisingly admitted that members of the government knew about the transports. Velliste, who had been a member of the Estonian Parliament from 1994 and was involved in the committee of inquiry, denied his testimony again shortly afterwards. The chairman of the parliamentary committee of inquiry, Evelyn Sepp, refused to sign the final report of the committee and called for a new investigation into the cause of the accident.
simulation
In March 2005, the Swedish government under Prime Minister Göran Persson announced that a new investigation using computer simulation had been put out to tender internationally. The TU Hamburg then carried out the computer simulations on the accident. The researchers used the simulation program Rolls for ship accidents .
It could be shown that the forces occurring in heavy seas and at high speed far exceeded the values for which the bow hinge was designed. It was not necessary to blow the hinge, the possibility of which had been speculated. Presumably the bow hatch tore off completely at around 1 a.m., and the tragedy lasted 14 minutes longer than initially assumed. The ramp behind the bow flap, which acted as a protective wall, must also have been torn open because otherwise the heavy water ingress on the loading deck would not be understandable. The navigators , who did not have a view of the bow visor from the navigating bridge, but were probably aware of the extent of the accident, turned the ship with its list in a maneuver so that it could move again through the forces of nature (wind and wave direction) straighten up. However, the penetrating water masses moved in the opposite direction, so that the centrifugal forces increased the list to starboard (01:20 a.m.: 50 °). The ship finally turned on its side at 1:32 a.m. and the large rear windows burst, allowing more water to get inside. The ship capsized .
In addition, the simulation showed that with such an incline, most of the passengers had no chance of getting on deck via the escape routes from inside the ship. The simulation also showed that the IMO regulations for combined passenger-car ferries are not sufficient.
Assassination theories
After the sinking of the Estonia , there were shipping experts and journalists who tried to refute the official cause of the Estonia tragedy. For example, it was alleged that it was not possible for such a large amount of water to penetrate the car deck over the car deck in the time specified by the official JAIC investigative commission between the tearing off of the bow visor and the complete accident to cause the ferry to sink. It was also alleged that the JAIC had disregarded several testimony, which stated that the water first penetrated the deck 0 below the vehicle deck and that the torn off bow visor could not have been the cause of the accident.
In addition, on September 27, 1994 at around 6 p.m. there was a possible bomb search on board the Estonia . This was claimed by an Estonian cadet in an interview broadcast in January 2000 with the news magazine Spiegel TV . He was on the training ship Linda learn to 19:30 on the radio that the officers on the bridge of Estonia were asked by the port control, which the search was performed with the dogs after the bomb. An Estonia officer replied that the search had ended with no result.
Other theories have implicated the Russian military or former intelligence agency KGB , the Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, and U.S. governments, and the U.S. foreign intelligence agency , the CIA .
In December 1999 a group of experts appointed by Meyer Werft came to the conclusion that the bow flap of the Estonia was not, as officially determined, loosened by swell, but was blown off by at least two detonations below the waterline. According to the Hamburg commissioner, Captain Werner Hummel, videos made by divers of the wreck clearly show two packages of explosives that had not been detonated. Pieces of metal salvaged by a private diving company were examined by three independent institutes who found changes in the metal structure which, according to their findings, could only be traced back to an explosion. An investigation by the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing , on the other hand, came to the conclusion that the deformation traces were not the result of an explosion , but a normal rust protection treatment.
Theory of collision with a submarine
The former head of a later Estonia investigation commission, Margus Kurm, believes it is likely that the crack in the ship's hull documented in 2020 was caused by the collision with a submarine .
process
In July 2019, almost 25 years after the sinking of the Estonia , a French court in Nanterre dismissed civil claims against the German Meyer Werft and the French auditing company Bureau Veritas . The inspectors had classified the ferry as seaworthy. According to the court, the plaintiffs could not prove any gross or willful misconduct on the part of the defendant. Over 1000 plaintiffs - including survivors and relatives of the victims - had demanded more than 40 million euros in damages.
Memorials
The Estonia was not raised so that the peace of the dead in the wreck would not be disturbed. In Estonia and Stockholm there are several memorials commemorating the victims of the sinking. The memorials are communal memorials that are not only open to relatives but also to all visitors and are also included in regional tourism concepts.
Estonia Memorials in Estonia
On the northern edge of the old town of Tallinn, near the defense tower “Big Margaret”, the sculpture “Katkenud liin” ( broken line ), made on September 28, 1996 by the sculptor Villu Jaanisoo from black granite, stands . A "waterway" leads in a wide arc from a hill to an abyss, breaks off over it. The arch continues far beyond the break, and the “waterway” plunges into the ground. Under this falling arch is a long flowerbed framed with black granite with the inscription " Estonia September 28, 1994". The meadow on the hill where the sculpture begins is surrounded by black granite bearing the same inscription. A black granite slab with the names of the drowned people rests under the upper demolition point. The relatives lay flowers, wreaths and lanterns here and on the arch above. The name of this sculpture is taken from mathematics.
For the inauguration of the memorial in Tallinn, the artists Riho Luuse and Jaan Saar designed an envelope with a special stamp on which Estonia is depicted and which bears the inscription: “28. September 1996 Tallinn EESTI POST ”.
Other Estonia memorials are located in the following locations:
- The memorial of the island of Abruka ( Eng . Abro ) is in the island cemetery . It is dedicated to the five islanders who perished in the disaster in Estonia .
- The memorial on the island of Hiiumaa (dt. Dagö ) is on the beach of the Tahkuna peninsula near the lighthouse at the point in Estonia that is closest to the disaster site in Estonia . From here you have a wide view over the sea. The memorial was built by Mati Karmin in 1995 , is nine and a half meters high and is dedicated to the children who perished on the Estonia . A slanted filigree sculpture rises up from a pile of stones, which is formed from four narrow rusting steel girders, which is closed at the top by a square made of four narrow steel girders. In this open square hangs a long, silver-plated steel cross, which is attached to swing and a bronze bell at the lower end. Mourners who come to the memorial can put a stone on top of the cairn and ring the bell to bring the deceased closer emotionally. When there is a storm the bell starts to ring; this awakens the feeling in the mourners that the souls of the deceased are ringing this bell. That is why the bronze bell is also known as the “soul bell”.
- The memorial in the city of Pärnu (Eng. Pernau ) with a twelve meter high sculpture was also built in 1997 by Mati Karmin and Tiit Trummal . A long granite-edged gravel bed leads to a raised square platform; on it stands a black memorial stone, above which a filigree black "canopy" rises, which is formed from two interlocking steel "gates". A slanting silver-plated steel cross floats in the canopy.
- The memorial in the city of Võru (Eng. Werro ) is located in the “Seminari väljak” green area next to the “Katariina kirik” church. The sculpture shows a steeply sloping black granite block that "sinks" into the ground. Two joined "praying hands" protrude from the granite block (based on a motif by Albrecht Dürer ). Next to the sculpture is a slender white cross. The memorial was completed in 1996 by the sculptor Mati Karmin and names the 70 citizens of the city of Võru who perished in the sinking of the Estonia .
- The memorial on the largest Estonian island Saaremaa (dt. Ösel ) is built on the north coast, at the point of the island that was closest to the Estonia route . It is dedicated to the islanders who perished.
The memorials are named " Estonia hukkunute mälestusmärk".
Estonia memorials in Sweden
Estonia Memorial Cross at the Ersta Hospital
Hans Håkansson, who lost his wife in the Estonia accident, erected a simple wooden cross in memory of the victims of the accident at the Ersta Hospital in Södermalm , a district of Stockholm. This wooden cross is regarded by many relatives of the drowned as an authentic Estonia memorial because it was erected by one of the bereaved. You visit this wooden cross on the anniversaries of bad luck.
Estonia Memorial in Stockholm-Djurgården
The Estonia -Gedenkstätte Estoniaminnesvården is located in Stockholm in Djurgården behind the bridge Djurgårdsbron on the back of Vasamuseums (Vasamuseet) and is next to the cemetery Galärkyrkogården dedicated to the sailors. It was designed by the Polish artist Mirosław Bałka (* 1958 in Warsaw), then realized in collaboration with landscape architects and inaugurated on September 28, 1997. The path that runs alongside the Vasa Museum serves as an entrance.
The “national monument” represents the bow of a ship that opens up to the Saltsjö bay.
In the middle of a triangular gravel area, each 11 m long, stands an old elm , the trunk of which is tightly surrounded by a metal ring on which the exact position of the wreck of the Estonia is engraved. The gravel area is enclosed by three 2.50 m high granite walls that reveal the view of the Saltsjö bay. The gray granite walls on the inside give the names of almost all drowned people in alphabetical order. Some spaces remain empty between the names entered because the bereaved did not allow the name to be entered. Sometimes there are bouquets of flowers on the floor that have been laid down by mourners.
To the left of the Estonia Memorial, by the stairs to the Galärkyrkogården cemetery, there is a plaque in Swedish.
There was controversy between relatives and the State Art Council over the Estonia Memorial Estoniaminnesvården. The relatives complained that the Art Council did not involve them in the decisions, rejected the draft of a bereaved and did not invite the bereaved to the inauguration ceremony. In these controversies, it became clear that the national monument was not built for the relatives, but for the Swedish people and future generations.
Mirosław Bałka had initially submitted a different design for the memorial, in which the names of the drowned people were to be entered on a 0.92 m wide and almost 80 m long white cement path that leads up to a hill in Djurgården from a jetty in the Saltsjö bay should maintain the human body temperature of 37 ° C all year round. Up on the hill, Mirosław Bałka wanted to put two chairs next to a ship's chimney, just like on a ship's deck, from which the sound of the sea could be heard, as the 1.80 m high chimney was to be connected to the sea by an underground pipe.
This draft was rejected by the relatives; they would have seen it as a sign of contempt if the visitors to the memorial would “trample” the names of the drowned people engraved on the narrow path.
Postage stamp from the Estonian Post
After the Estonia disaster, on November 18, 1994 , the Estonian Post issued the overprint stamp Michel No. 242 in an edition of 102,050 for the relief fund for the benefit of the bereaved of the disaster. The overprint is on the postage stamp Michel No. 241 issued on November 15, 1994 with the image of the church of Urvaste (Eng. Urbs) in the south of Estonia worth 2.50 kr, designed by Henno Arrak and the Inscription bears: “Urvaste Kirik. XIV Sajand EESTI 1994 ". The overprint names a surcharge of 20 kr and the overprint text : " Estonia laevahuku ohvrite fondi".
reception
Feature films and documentaries
The sinking of the Estonia was the subject of several cinematic works:
- The feature film Baltic Storm (2003) is based on the book Die Estonia: Tragödie einer Schiffswissenschaften by the German journalist Jutta Rabe .
- Mirror TV holes in the steel? The fall of Estonia (2001)
- The documentary Sinking of the Estonia was broadcast on the BBC's History Channel .
- The sinking of the Estonia was themed in the third episode of the second season of the British TV series Zero Hour .
- The accident also served as a model for the television film Fähre in den Tod (1996, Sat.1 ), in which, however, the focus was more on the subsequent investigations and responsibilities.
- In the third film in the series Nord bei Nordwest - Estonia (2016, ARD), the version of the bow hatch being blown up forms the background.
- Estonia - the find that changes everything (2020)
Music and radio play
- The Estonian composer Veljo Tormis processed his impressions of the Estonia disaster in his piece Incantatio maris aestuosi for eight-part male choir, which sets Latin translations from excerpts from the Kalevala to music. The texts make specific reference to the emerging and swirling sea storms as well as to the seamen's requests to the gods to protect them and to let the winds pass.
- The Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi dedicated the choral work Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae, written in 1997, to the dead of the ferry disaster .
- The British band Marillion composed a song called "Estonia", which was released on the 1997 album This Strange Engine in memory of the accident .
- The German punk band Dackelblut processed the events on their 1995 album Schützen und Promote into a song entitled Der Koch von der Estonia .
- The radio play The Downfall of the MS Estonia by Jan Gaspard appeared in 2008 as episode 28 of the series Revelation 23 and presents a conspiracy theory according to which the Estonia was deliberately sunk to thwart a large-scale plutonium smuggling . This approach is also discussed in episode 42 The Illuminati (2012).
- The Swedish singer Nils Patrik Johansson dealt with the Estonia disaster on his first solo album Evil Deluxe (2018) in the song Estonia . In this he also used excerpts from a radio recording from the night of the accident.
Fiction
- The German author Anne von Canal deals with the misfortune of Estonia in her 2014 novel Der Grund .
- In 2014 published crime thriller From icy depth by the author duo Roman Voosen and Kerstin Signe Danielsson , the sinking of the Estonia forms the common denominator for several murders in Växjö in Småland (Sweden).
literature
- The Joint Accident Investigation Commission of Estonia, Finland and Sweden: final report on the capsizing on 28 September 1994 in the Baltic Sea of the Ro-Ro Passenger Vessel MV Estonia . Edita, Helsinki 1997, ISBN 951-53-1611-1 .
- H. Soomer, H. Ranta, A. Penttilä: Identification of victims from the M / S Estonia . In: International Journal of Legal Medicine . Vol. 114, 2001, pp. 259-262 .
- Terttu Pihlajamaa: Estonia. Reports and experiences. Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, Leipzig 1999, ISBN 3-374-01754-1 , (The book also contains a chapter on the Estonia memorial in Stockholm)
- Cay Rademacher : Estonia is a secret. Nymphenburger, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-485-00822-2 .
- Jutta Rabe: The Estonia. The tragedy of a shipwreck. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2003, ISBN 3-7688-1460-2 . (The book for the film "Baltic Storm" .)
- Jutta Rabe: "Estonia." The judge has to be silent. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . Munich February 12, 2005. ISSN 0174-4917
- André Anwar: Was “Estonia” blown up? In: Rheinische Post . Düsseldorf April 4, 2006.
- Explosion instead of accident? In: Focus Online . April 11, 2006, ISSN 0943-7576 .
- Dispute over new investigation into the Estonia disaster . In: lr-online.de . April 13, 2006.
- Ralf Wiegand: Why it sank, how it sank . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . September 22, 2006, ISSN 0174-4917 .
- Leonie Reimers: Will the mystery of the sunken “Estonia” be cleared up soon? In: The world . October 4, 2006, ISSN 0173-8437 .
Web links
- Report of the German group of experts . In: estoniaferrydisaster.net . (English)
- Anders Björkman: The M / S Estonia Accident investigation 1994–1997: The biggest Fraud in Maritime History - News 2006–2012 . In: heiwaco.tripod.com . (English)
- Final report of the Tripartite Commission (Estonia-Finland-Sweden, December 1997 )
- Estonia Collection (Swedish)
- Sweden's Defense Minister promises to clarify the accident on the ferry “Estonia” . In: RIA Novosti . December 19, 2006.
- Secret cargo: "Estonia" is said to have transported war technology on behalf of Estonia . In: RIA Novosti . December 19, 2006.
- Is the truth on the bottom of the sea? In: RIA Novosti . December 22, 2006.
- Justification of the criminal complaint against the Swedish government, submitted by MP Lars Angström on September 12, 2006 ( Memento from June 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (English; PDF file; 35 kB)
- Sven Felix Kellerhoff : The riddle of Europe's worst ship disaster since 1945 . In: world . 12th July 2019.
- dpa: Estonia wants investigation: New findings on "Estonia" sinking . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 28, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d E. Boesten: The M / S Estonia Disaster and the Treatment of Human Remains. In: JJLM Bierens (Ed.): Handbook on Drowning . 2006, pp. 650-652.
- ↑ Unsafe Waters , Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 30, 2020, accessed October 2, 2020
- ↑ Wasa King ( Swedish ) Vasabåtarna.se. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
- ↑ M / S DIANA II AV SLITE ( Swedish ) 2018. Accessed November 22, 2020.
- ↑ Viking Sally deck plan ( Finnish / Swedish / English ) In: Viking Line brochure . Vasabåtarna.se. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ↑ Viking Sally Conference deck 4 plan ( Swedish / Finnish ) In: Viking Line brochure . Vasabåtarna.se. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ↑ Viking Sally cutaway ( Swedish / Finnish / English ) In: Viking Line brochure . Vasabåtarna.se. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ^ Viking Sally General Arrangement plan . Vasabåtarna.se. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ↑ Viking Sally Restaurant deck 6 plan ( Swedish / Finnish ) In: Viking Line brochure . Vasabåtarna.se. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ↑ On a Finnish ferry: Dane charged with killing a German after 33 years . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN 0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed December 8, 2020]).
- ↑ Most important witness indicted after 33 years . In: sz.de . ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed December 11, 2020]).
- ↑ Tagesschau from February 20, 1994 ( de ) tagesschau.de. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d JAIC commission report (Swedish; PDF; 5.1 MB)
- ↑ a b c H. Soomer, H. Ranta, A. Penttilä: Identification of victims from the M / S Estonia. In: International Journal of Legal Medicine. 114 (2001), pp. 259-262.
- ↑ Filip K. Arnberg1, Nils-Gustaf Eriksson, Christina M. Hultman, Tom Lundin, Traumatic bereavement, acute dissociation, and posttraumatic stress: 14 years after the MS Estonia disaster in Journal of Traumatic Stress . DOI: 10.1002 / jts.20629
- ↑ As early as 1995, Der Spiegel reported that the Estonia was missing a bulkhead, which is why it should not have been used outside the coast: Saud-stupid excuses . March 20, 1995.
- ↑ Bombs on the bow? In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 2000 ( online ).
- ↑ Report to the chancellor of justice in sweden ( Memento of February 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Report to the Swedish Minister of Justice, PDF file, translated from Swedish into English)
- ↑ New findings on the sinking of the “Estonia” , FAZ.net, September 28, 2020, accessed September 28, 2020
- ^ AFP, DPA: Documentary makers on trial for illegally exploring MS Estonia wreck. In: Euronews. January 25, 2021, accessed January 27, 2021 .
- ^ Swedes acquitted of desecrating sunken ferry with robot dive. In: AP News. The Associated Press, February 8, 2021, accessed February 8, 2021 .
- ↑ Jonas Bäckstrand, Jörgen Zachau: Investigations - Preliminary assessment of new information about the sinking of the passenger ship M / S Estonia. The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority, October 2, 2020, accessed February 8, 2021 .
- ↑ Vill dyka vid Estonia - Damberg: Bra att frågetecknen kan rätas ut. Retrieved December 27, 2020 (Swedish).
- ^ Mari Kamps: Sepp: sõjatehnikaga sahkerdamise eest vastutab Isamaaliit. In: Postimees . December 13, 2006, archived from the original on May 10, 2007 ; Retrieved September 27, 2019 (Estonian).
- ↑ Martin Roolvink: Interview with Evelyn Sepp. In: FERRYcompass. February 15, 2007, accessed February 10, 2021 .
- ^ Ulrich Jaeger: Disastrous turning point . In: Der Spiegel . No. 2 , 2008, p. 132 f . ( online ).
- ↑ bomb sank, Estonia' ferry Spiegel Online, December 23, 1999th
- ^ Analysis of the metal sample , Spiegel Online, November 5, 2000.
- ^ Andreas Ulrich, Tilo Thielke: Holes in the steel . In: Spiegel Online . January 27, 2001.
- ↑ Unsafe Waters , Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 30, 2020, accessed October 2, 2020
- ↑ Meyer Werft does not have to pay any compensation . In: Spiegel Online . 19th July 2019.
- ↑ Further information: A monument like the bow of a ship.
- ↑ Kai Strittmatter: Estonia: According to TV documentary, the director faces jail. Retrieved November 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Book reviews at Perlentaucher .
- ↑ Book reviews at krimi-couch.de.
Coordinates: 59 ° 23 ′ 0 ″ N , 21 ° 42 ′ 0 ″ E