The death of the Estonian ferry is the mystery of the last flight. The collapse of the ferry "Estonia" - what is hidden from us? A mystery buried at the bottom

On the night of September 27-28, 1994, a tragedy occurred in the Baltic Sea, which was destined to become the last maritime mystery of the outgoing millennium. A mystery that remains unsolved to this day.

On September 27, 1994 at 19:15 local time, the ferry "Estonia" left the port of Tallinn, carrying 989 passengers and crew members. The ferry made by that time the already familiar flight from Tallinn to Stockholm.

Despite the fact that the weather was bad and a storm began at sea, neither those who remained on the shore nor those who sailed on board the ferry felt any anxiety. For a vessel like the Estonia, the Baltic storm, as it was believed, could not pose any threat.

At 1:30 a.m., the Estonia transmitted a brief distress signal, shortly after which it disappeared from radar.

Morning releases of Estonian TV channels plunged the country into shock: the ferry "Estonia" died, there are numerous victims.

As eyewitnesses recall, that morning, bewildered, depressed Tallinners went to the port, to the pier from which the Estonia left on its last voyage. They stood and looked at the sea, as if hoping that the Baltic would return the ship and people ...

Regular flight

The ferry "Estonia" was built in 1979 at the West German shipyard Meyer Werft in the city of Papenburg by order of the Finnish company Viking Line. The ship, named Viking Sally, cruised on the Turku - Mariehamn - Stockholm line. The ship went through several owners and Baltic routes until it was purchased by the Swedish-Estonian joint venture Estline in January 1993 to operate ferry service between Tallinn and Stockholm. After that, the ferry received its last name - "Estonia".

No serious accidents were recorded during the flights of "Estonia" until September 27, 1994.

And this time, by 23:00, the ferry safely passed 350 km of the route. The storm intensified, the ship rocked, but the situation did not cause any concern. The passengers went to bed peacefully.

Around midnight, Estonia met with the ferry Mariella, owned by Viking Line, which was heading on a collision course. On the Maerilla, they noticed that the Estonia was moving at high speed, but this circumstance in itself did not pose a threat to the ship.

Nightmare

All the more unexpected was the distress signal received from the Estonia just an hour and a half later. It followed from it that the ship had a dangerous roll, and the crew was waking up the passengers with a siren.

Not only "Mariella" immediately went to the place of disaster, but also several other ferries from Helsinki to Stockholm.

The sailors saw a terrible picture: on rafts in the cold, raging sea, half-dressed, terrified to death, frozen people could hardly be kept. Passenger ferries are not the best vessels for rescue work, especially in stormy conditions, so it was not possible to raise everyone who was on the surface from the water.

At about three o'clock in the morning, helicopters of the Finnish and Swedish military and rescuers arrived at the place of death of the "Estonia", which began to pull out of the water those who could not be helped by ferries.

For some, help came too late - even people pulled out of the water died of hypothermia aboard ships and helicopters.

A total of 137 people were rescued, 95 more were officially identified as dead. 757 people were declared missing.

It's all about the visor

The sinking of the ferry "Estonia" was the largest shipwreck in Europe that occurred in peacetime.

What caused the tragedy?

The official commission of inquiry, composed of experts from Finland, Sweden and Estonia, came to the conclusion that "Estonia" was ruined by the bow visor - the surface part of the ferry, which rises to take cars and other cargo on board.

According to the members of the commission, on the "Estonia", built in 1979, the technical requirements for the safety and reliability of the nasal visor did not meet more modern requirements.

In the conditions of a strong storm and at the high speed of the "Estonia", her visor could not withstand the blows of oncoming waves, which led to its failure. After that, storm waves began to overwhelm cargo compartment. Within minutes, this caused an increasing list to starboard.

When the team realized the danger of what was happening and gave a distress signal, it was already too late - the ship lay down on the starboard side, and a few minutes later went to the bottom. "Estonia" died in just half an hour.

When it became known about the conclusions of the commission, bow visors were tightly welded on all ferries of an identical design in order to avoid a repetition of the disaster.

The German shipbuilders, who, in fact, were blamed for the disaster, did not agree with the conclusions. After conducting their own investigation, they stated that the Estonian nose visor was designed for much more serious loads, and its failure could only be the result of a deliberate explosion.

No evidence of an explosion aboard the Estonia, however, was presented.

The crew was involved in drug smuggling?

If the German shipbuilders, speaking of a possible explosion, do not name those who could stand behind it, then others alternative versions much more detailed.

All of them are connected in one way or another with a certain cargo that was transported by "Estonia".

Some researchers claim that just before the ferry was sent on its last flight, two trucks drove on board without customs inspection. What kind of cargo was in them remains unknown.

According to one of the most popular versions, "Estonia" was used for drug smuggling. Allegedly, the ferry was carrying another batch on its last voyage, but the crew became aware that the police were already waiting for them in Stockholm. Then the team members involved in smuggling decided to open the nose visor and throw the cargo into the sea. Having fulfilled their plan, however, they failed to close the visor, as a result of which the ship filled with water, lay on its side and sank.

Marine experts, however, do not believe in such a possibility. Such a step in a storm was tantamount to suicide, and the captain could not help but understand this. In any case, a Swedish prison is better than the inhospitable bottom of the Baltic.

A few more versions boil down to the fact that weapons that previously belonged to the Soviet Union were transported on board the Estonia.

This possibility was indirectly confirmed by one of the heads of the Swedish customs authorities. Sven Peter Olsson, who later admitted that in 1994 the customs did indeed have an agreement with the Swedish army, according to which, in the port of Stockholm, cars with a load of electronics purchased from Russian army and delivered from Tallinn on the Estonian passenger ferry.

True, in 2005, the Swedish government published a report of the commission of inquiry, which stated that there was no military cargo on the "Estonia" on the day of the disaster.

Supporters of the version about weapons on board the "Estonia" are divided into several groups. The former believe that some kind of secret Soviet weapon was exported on the "Estonia", the leakage of which to the West could not be allowed by the Russian special services, which staged a diversion on board. The latter are sure that the sabotage on board the Estonia is the work of the Western intelligence services, who were under the threat of exposing their weapons operations. former USSR and decided in literally the words "hide the ends in the water."

Why didn't they raise the sunken ferry?

Adherents of the most radical version of the death of "Estonia" are convinced that radioactive materials, possibly even components of nuclear weapons, were transported on board.

And, oddly enough, this version has indirect confirmation. The fact is that the lost ship, by international agreement, was sealed at the bottom with a concrete sarcophagus, and the waters around it are a restricted area controlled by the Finnish Navy.

Those who do not agree with the official version of the death of "Estonia" pay attention to the fact that the authorities categorically refused to try to raise the ferry, despite the fact that it lies not at the most prohibitive depth - 83 meters.

However, in 1995 there was an Estonian-Finnish-Swedish agreement prohibiting any work in the area of ​​the death of the ferry "Estonia". Russia, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Great Britain have also joined this agreement.

Officially, this is done out of respect for the memory of the dead. Opponents say that there is an international conspiracy of silence around Estonia, the purpose of which is to hide the true causes of the tragedy.

Case closed, questions remain

There are indeed more than enough oddities in the case of the death of the ferry "Estonia". So, the lists of found and rescued passengers and crew members were corrected, and people who seemed to have already been found and rescued disappeared again. For example, the second captain of the ship, Avo Pikht, first appeared and then disappeared from the list of survivors. Everything would be fine, there are few mistakes in such an environment, but the fact is that there is a video recording made during the delivery of the rescued to the port. On it, in an ambulance, TV journalists captured a man very similar to Captain Fir. Where did he disappear to then? And such seemingly surviving, and then missing members of the Estonian crew were counted by several people.

In early 2009, the Estonian government dismissed the commission investigating the causes of the disaster after the publication of its fourth report. The conclusions of this report did not differ from those that were made earlier - the most likely cause of the death of the ferry is its design flaws and heavy weather.

With this, the official investigation into the disaster was finally closed.

And the answers to all the questions of the doubters, obviously, will never be received.

15 years ago, on the night of September 27-28, 1994 in Gulf of Finland the Estonian ferry wrecked. The ship sank near the island of Utoye, located 20 km from the coast of Finland, with 989 people on board.

The ferry "Estonia" was built in Germany at the Meyer Werft shipyard in 1980. It had cabins for 2,000 passengers and space for 460 vehicles.

In 2005, the Swedish government published an investigation report. According to him, on the day of the disaster, the ship was not transporting explosives or military equipment. Design flaws were announced as the official version of the ferry crash.

In 2006, a special commission of the Estonian Parliament, established to continue the investigation into the circumstances of the export of military equipment from the territory of Estonia on the ferry "Estonia" in 1994, published its final report. However, under the report of the commission, created from representatives of all six fractions of the Estonian parliament, only five people put their signatures.

Representative of the faction of the Center Party Evelyn Sepp(Evelyn Sepp) issued a dissenting opinion in which she accused one member of the commission - Trivimi Velliste (Isamaa/Res Publica union) of knowing about the transport of military equipment on this ferry. It was these transportations, according to Sepp, that caused the largest maritime disaster post-war period.

In 2009, the Estonian government decided to stop investigating the reasons for the sinking of the ferry "Estonia".

The Cabinet of Ministers heard the fourth report of the government commission investigating the circumstances of the disaster, and concluded that the information available could not provide additional information about its causes. As a result, the commission was disbanded. In the submitted report, its design flaws and severe weather conditions were named as the most likely cause of the death of the ferry. This is in line with the conclusions of the international commission published in 1997. According to official version, the ferry sank due to a defect in the bow gate, which could not withstand the storm and began to let water through.

The crash of the ferry "Estonia" became the most major disaster on the water after World War II in Europe.

There are memorials dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Estonia ferry disaster in Tallinn and Stockholm.

I was 11 years old when "Speedola" in the country reported the terrible news that the passenger ferry "Estonia" drowned in the Baltic Sea with hundreds of passengers ... A version was voiced - the bow ramp came off, the ferry in the stormy sea took a lot of water and quickly sunk. A little more than a hundred people were saved ... Then I decided that ferries are very dangerous view transport, and it is unlikely that I will go to them. However, with “Estonia” everything was not so simple. On ferries, I went many times along the very Baltic, and not only, though not in a storm. Yes, times were different.

I returned to the Estonian question a few years ago when I studied at sailing courses. We discussed the topic of free water in the ship's hull. How does it affect its stability (not to be confused with stability). When it enters the ship's hull in a wave, a large mass of water from free surface causes roll, uncontrollable and as a result - overkill and that's it ...

A couple of weeks ago I visited Tallinn maritime museum. There I saw the layout of the ferry "Estonia" and the original life buoy. The museum's storerooms contain many objects from the ferry, which appeared the day after the tragedy on the surface of the sea. The divers probably got something - they visited the ship to find the captain's suitcase in the wheelhouse. There was no suitcase in the wheelhouse, it was in the cabin - but what was there remained a secret for the public.

Actually, the whole catastrophe for the majority, including the families of the dead and missing, is also a big secret. While I was reading the materials, I learned that a strategic supply of coffins is stored in airports in case of misfortune, and for those who froze in the waters of the Baltic, coffins were ordered from Helsinki Airport in the amount of 300 pieces. The ferry sank in international waters, but it is impossible to carry out underwater work at its place of death - the first precedent in the history of maritime jurisprudence for such a ban. Miraculously, several crew members were saved, but then, suddenly, their names disappeared from the list of rescued. So no one else saw them, however ... Some were seen and even identified by the surviving members of the ferry crew. It was the second captain, Arvo Picht...

How could a modern and reliable ferry go to the bottom in half an hour. Not falling apart in half, not getting a hole in the iceberg (even the Titanic sank for almost 3 hours - during this time a third of the passengers managed to escape). Only one seventh of the passengers and crew members escaped from the Estonia. In peacetime, in the Baltic navigable sea (not in the ocean), from a ship equipped with all rescue equipment by the number of passengers (on the Titanic, if we recall, there would be enough boats for only two-thirds of total number passengers). Yes, and the ship went along the route not for the first time and was operated for only 14 years, it was built according to modern technologies at a German shipyard (although it was built for coastal areas). And so, in half an hour, with no one and with nothing, it went to the bottom. Sounds incredible and fantastic. Well, for some reason, the bow ramp fell off for some reason (the waves beat and beat on it and tore off the locks of the visor - although this is also very strange, the waves beat on the structure and the force was directed inward - it’s hard to imagine that in this way the elements could tear even rusted hinges and open the visor.But suppose that the structure was still vulnerable), a huge mass of water entered the vessel - but why did the ferry only have enough buoyancy for half an hour?

Let's look at different versions of what happened.

Imperfect visor design.
This is the official version. Plus severe weather conditions. The locks could not withstand the impacts of the waves, fell apart, the visor opened and then broke away from the impacts of the waves. And yes, the speed of the ferry was too high, which is why they hit the visor so hard. But for some reason, other ships with the same design sailed the same seas regularly. Yes, and with "Estonia" not the first time went along the route and also happened in storms. For 14 years, a design flaw could have manifested itself, probably.

Have there been any troubles with the visor before or after "Estonia"? There was one in 2015 at Viking Line. Ferry Rosella left the port of Marienhamn with her bow visor raised and sailed in this condition for several nautical miles until the crew was able to close it. Why didn't the ship sink even though the sea was rough? It did not even take on water, because after the incident with the "Estonia" on all ferries with car decks where watertight bulkheads cannot be installed, they began to put watertight gates immediately behind the ramp. More on this emergency situations with visors and the death of ferries for this reason maritime history does not know. If we recall the Korean ferry "Saewol", then the tragedy occurred there due to negligence, the ferry was overloaded, and after the restructuring it was not thoroughly checked for safe operation. And, by the way, the perpetrators were found in Korea, everyone was punished. There are numerous victims in the "Estonia" case, the ship is at the bottom, but no one was imprisoned.

Could the Estonian team have prevented the sinking of the ship?
Yes and no. Suppose the ship loses its ramp, water begins to flow onto the deck. If the crew immediately notices the problem and understands the seriousness of the situation, there was an option to turn the ship around and go back to the port, taking the blows of the waves astern. But the lack of a visor and the water on the deck were noticed too late on the bridge, or there was no one to notice it - everyone was busy disposing of the contraband. In any case, the pumps were turned on, but they could not cope with the mass of water.

Inadequate technical maintenance of the vessel
The German shipyard Meyer Werft, which in 1980 launched the ferry "Viking Sally", later renamed "Estonia", conducted its own investigation and pointed out the improper technical care of the vessel. It is clear that a German company with many years of experience and a good name in shipbuilding could not admit to the imperfection of the design of the visor and locking locks. Moreover, the sisterships of "Estonia" should have had the same design flaws - however, more similar disasters the ferries didn't work. But upon inspection, the visor hinges were rusty. However, look at our princesses "Maria" and "Anastasia" from Piterline. Passing by them on a yacht, I am always afraid that this will be their last voyage. everything is rusty. Here are some of the courts I will never go - so it's on them. And even if the company invites me at least 10 times to test their ships (and after this post, they simply won’t dare to do this), I will never agree. Yes, it’s always wet on ships, yes, rust lives there - but that’s what sailors and attendants are for, to scrub, scrape and paint. "Estonia", apparently, was not updated as often as it was required.

Drugs and smuggling
According to unofficial data, 500 kg of pure heroin was transported in passenger cars on the ferry, which the Hong Kong "tirade" transported along the Singapore-Delhi-Moscow-Tallinn-Stockholm route. And in two trucks there were 40 tons of cobalt. The police along the entire route of the cargo was bought. The leader of the mafia in Estonia called Captain Arvo Andersson an hour after the ferry left the port of Tallinn and ordered the cargo to be destroyed because allegedly a rival Colombian mafia group intercepted Swedish customs. And the captain, in a storm with 6 meter waves, opened the visor to throw off the cargo, and then he could no longer close it. And this version of loading drugs into the water during a storm is completely crazy. A normal captain is unlikely to do this. I do not believe that there was no other way to dispose of half a ton of heroin from a ship in ten hours until the ship reached the Swedish archipelago. Yes, even from the open deck to dump at night - it was still packaged not in bags of 50 kg. Or common sense overpowered animal fear? Or did they get rid of the trucks? But they cannot be driven out on the move with an incompletely open visor. It's already "mission impossible".

Weapons, including nuclear
It was said that "Estonia" repeatedly transported electronic modules of Soviet military equipment. And the decision to close the ship with a concrete sarcophagus (like the Chernobyl reactor) suggests that this was done not just in order not to disturb the memory of the drowned, but to prevent radioactive contamination of the water area. And at first, Sweden confidently stated that the ferry would be raised, along with all the bodies, and then it was Sweden that voiced a controversial decision, and Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Denmark, Great Britain and Sweden signed agreements on the inadmissibility of carrying out diving operations on the ferry "Estonia". Finland began to protect this area of ​​the Baltic.

Sabotage
Journalist Jutta Rabe believes that the ship was sunk intentionally Russian mafia. During an unofficial underwater expedition sponsored by American billionaire Gregg Bemis, divers found explosion holes in the hull of a ferry lying at the bottom and took metal samples from their edges for examination. Independent laboratories in Germany and the US confirmed that the metal was deformed during the explosion.
Thus, it turns out that the "Estonia" took water not only with the bow, in the hull below the waterline there were holes from explosions from the inside - someone deliberately organized this in order to sink the ship. If you remember that the ferry went to the bottom stern first, then this version is the place to be. The manufacturer of the ferry Meyer Werft also refers to the fact of the explosion and a hole on the starboard side.
But then why and who tried to sink the ship? Explosions were also heard by some survivors when they were already in the water. That is, the explosions finished off the ship.

I watched several videos of eyewitness interviews. Everyone heard a few strange sounds before the ferry tilted - some kind of alien rattles and bumps. This is explained by the fact that the visor hit the bulb (this is such a part of the vessel below the waterline, a protruding rounded shape is necessary to reduce the resistance of the hull to the water). But such a blow was possible only once, when the visor came off and fell. What other sounds have people heard? The visor has damage.

Even before the disaster, eyewitnesses heard other strange technical sounds, which suggest that the visor was opened and closed and something went wrong.

There is no information who at the time of the disaster was on the captain's bridge, where Captain Andersson was. Why did none of the crew on the bridge notice that the visor was opening - this is indicated by a signal light on the control panel. There are many questions.

I won’t talk about the catastrophe itself and what happened during those half an hour inside the ferry. It's more like a horror movie. I will only say that all the rescued were over 12 years old, mostly young men. There were also several women, including one pregnant woman from the dance group that performed on the ferry - surprisingly, both she and the child survived. All the survivors really wanted to live and literally clung to life in every sense.

So who is to blame for the tragedy?

In any case, the human factor is to blame. Whether it be smugglers, drug dealers, poor maintenance of the vessel - it is not the elements that are to blame, but the person. Who exactly is another question. They don't openly point fingers at anyone. In general, they did not condemn anything, they did not find the guilty, the case was closed - Poseidon is to blame for everything.

Very tasty versions of conspiracies, sabotage, drug trafficking and nuclear weapons. The official version is completely implausible, because it is too simple. Will we ever find out what really happened to the ferry "Estonia"? Which version are you leaning towards? Maybe you have your own view on the situation?

Option: Unknown celestial cosmic waves, which made the steel of constipation soft for several minutes, and then returned its standard characteristics to it - do not offer it as completely absurd. Aliens aren't here either.

People are sorry. And taking into account the fact that only 95 passengers were saved - the remaining 42 were crew members - it becomes completely uncomfortable. Everyone saved their own skin, although in such a situation, as a member of the ship's crew, I would also save myself. Animal instincts, nothing more. There is no time for heroism.

One of these days Jutta Rabe's book about the death of "Estonia" should arrive. I will acquaint with her version in detail if there is something unusual.

And for those who haven't seen film "Baltic Storm" based on events - watch

A few hours after the disaster, the formation of an international commission (JAIC) from representatives of Estonia, Sweden and Finland began. Estonian minister Andi Meister became its chairman. Four days later, the Swedes started talking about his lack of competence. Meister also said that the Swedish side is hiding the results of the survey of the sunken ferry, which were carried out with the help of underwater robots, and resigned. According to him, the footage of the captain's bridge disappeared from the film that the members of the commission received. As a result, water rushed through the huge gates and flooded the cargo room.
This report did not suit many. The research team of the German shipyard Meyer Werft, where the ferry was built, conducted their investigation and concluded that Nordström & Thulin knew about the design defects, but did not begin to eliminate them.

As a result, the existing malfunctions intensified, water entered the cargo deck before the disaster, which the ship's crew knew about. The Estonian and Swedish inspectors who inspected the ship were supposed to prohibit the ferry from going to sea.
The report also noted that the divers conducting the inspection searched for and found a diplomat. It belonged to a man involved in the arms trade. In addition, other groups of divers secretly entered the corps with the consent of the Swedish authorities. The Germans also did not rule out that there could be explosions in the bow of the ferry.

However, this fact can only be established by obtaining the original, and not edited, video recordings of the underwater inspection.
Later it became known that a video film with filming in 1995 and 1996 was missing from the archives of the Swedish Shipping Department. The wreckage of the ferry was filmed by the MNC-konsortiet company, which studied the possibilities of concreting the ship.

“In general, there were many oddities in this story - from the missing G8 team members to the categorical refusal of the three governments - Estonian, Swedish and Finnish - to accept Russia's help. The most important doubts about the official version of the commission of inquiry arose when, a few years later, they tried to close the drowned ferry with a concrete sarcophagus.

At the end of 2004, Frihamnen Lennart Henriksson, the former head of the maritime customs of the port of Stockholm, stated in the Swedish television program “Investigation” that Soviet military equipment was on board the sunken ferry on the day of his death.

According to him, in 1994, the ferry "Estonia" several times transported goods that were forbidden to be examined by customs officers. This was confirmed by other Swedish customs officials in an interview with local radio.
The testimonies prompted the convening of a special committee of the Riigikogu to investigate the sinking of the ferry Estonia. The commission found that the ferry really carried military equipment. The information was confirmed by a representative of the Swedish Ministry of Defense. The vice-chairman of the commission, Evelyn Sepp, connects the cause of the death of the ferry with this fact. Evelyn SeppEvelyn Sepp
In her opinion, some Estonian politicians also knew about the transport of weapons on board a civilian ship: Mart Laar, Juhan Parts, Andrus Ansip and Trivimi Velliste.

The work of the fourth commission was terminated in 2009. The government concluded that it had failed to find new facts.

Cargo-passenger ferry "Estonia"Crashed on the night of September 28, 1994 on the way from Tallinn to Stockholm during a severe storm near the Finnish island of Ute. Of the 989 people on board - passengers and crew members - 137 escaped, 852 died.

The International Commission to Investigate the Causes of the Estonian Disaster concluded that the main cause of the ship's disaster was a tragic combination of a number of circumstances. In particular, according to the commission, the shipwreck accelerated a number of design features"Estonia", first of all, the car deck, passing from bow to stern.

A strong storm, high speed of the vessel, the course of movement and weather conditions led to the fact that the fastenings of the forward transport hatch on the vessel could not stand and collapsed.

On the eve of the 23rd anniversary of these tragic events Sputnik Estonia invites its readers to remember what exactly happened on the night of September 28, 1994.

BIG WHITE STEAMBOAT

On the night of September 28, 1994, at 01:22 am, the passenger ferry "Estonia" sent an SOS signal on the air. About 750 passengers remaining by this time inside the ship were doomed to death. After 25 minutes, the ferry went under water. The cries for help stopped, there was a terrible silence.

In 1993 the state Estonian shipping company together with the Swedish company Nordström & Thulin created the joint venture Estline. This company bought the fourteen-year-old Wasa King ferry and renamed it "Estonia". A beautiful ship began to carry passengers and vehicles between Tallinn and Stockholm.

The ferry was built in 1979 at the German shipyard Meyer Werft for Viking Line and was called Viking Sally. In 1986 it was sold to Silja Line and renamed Silja Star. In 1991, it was renamed Wasa King and used this name until it was sold to the Estonian-Swedish company Estline. It flew under the Estonian flag, but was registered in Estonia and Cyprus.

Maritime home of an unbreakable holiday with an unusual rich buffet, shops, bars, bathhouses and other joys previously unfamiliar to most Estonian residents ferry travel personified new country: independent, associated with Scandinavian countries and "floating" to well-being and prosperity. It was prestigious to work for Estonia, it was considered impossible to get here without patronage.

In the summer of 1994, I happened to visit this ship when it was in port. I remember how impressed I was then by its size, cleanliness and luxury ( passenger ferries I haven't seen it yet). But there was another strong feeling on one of the upper floors, when I looked through the large window at the water: “How high and scary! God forbid what. Although, apparently, such a colossus does not care about a storm, ”- Tatyana Merkulova, journalist.

FATAL FLIGHT

On September 27, 1994, at 19:15, the ferry departed from the terminal of the Port of Tallinn for its evening flight. On board were, according to official figures, 989 people. Departed with a slight roll and delay. But that didn't bother anyone then. How not embarrassed by the gloomy sky and the wind - a common phenomenon for the Baltic in the autumn.

Early the next morning, Estonia, and soon the whole world was shocked and plunged into a state of shock by the terrible news - at night the ferry "Estonia" drowned. The ship sank to the bottom near the island of Utö, located 20 km from the coast of Finland. The whole of Estonia followed the news closely, hoping to find familiar names in the lists of the rescued.

It was simply unbelievable. A day ago, I was drinking tea in my kitchen with a close friend of mine. She worked on a ferry and was going on her next voyage. “Lord, why are there so few names of the saved?”- so many thought that day. We hoped and prayed. Tatyana Merkulova, journalist.

Rescued 137 people (94 passengers and 43 crew members)

OFFICIAL VERSION

A few hours after the disaster, the formation of an international commission (JAIC) from representatives of Estonia, Sweden and Finland began. Estonian minister Andi Meister became its chairman. Four days later, the Swedes started talking about his lack of competence. Meister also said that the Swedish side is hiding the results of the survey of the sunken ferry, which were carried out with the help of underwater robots, and resigned. According to him, footage of the captain's bridge disappeared from the film that the members of the commission received.

The ferry went on a wave, the locks of the bow ramp could not stand it, it came off. As a result, water rushed through the huge gates and flooded the cargo room.

This report did not suit many.

MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES

The research team of the German shipyard Meyer Werft, where the ferry was built, conducted their investigation and concluded that Nordström & Thulin knew about the design defects, but did not fix them.

As a result, the existing malfunctions intensified, water entered the cargo deck before the disaster, which the ship's crew knew about. The Estonian and Swedish inspectors who inspected the ship were supposed to prohibit the ferry from going to sea.

The report also noted that the divers conducting the inspection searched for and found a diplomat. It belonged to a man involved in the arms trade. In addition, other groups of divers secretly entered the corps with the consent of the Swedish authorities. The Germans also did not rule out that there could be explosions in the bow of the ferry.

However, this fact can only be established by obtaining the original, and not edited, video recordings of the underwater inspection.

Later it became known that a video film with filming in 1995 and 1996 was missing from the archives of the Swedish Shipping Department. The wreckage of the ferry was filmed by the MNC-konsortiet company, which studied the possibilities of concreting the ship.

“In general, there were many oddities in this story - from the missing G8 team members to the categorical refusal of the three governments - Estonian, Swedish and Finnish - to accept Russia's help. The most important doubts about the official version of the commission of inquiry arose when, a few years later, they tried to close the drowned ferry with a concrete sarcophagus., - Galina Sapozhnikova, journalist.

FERRY CARRIED MILITARY CARGO

At the end of 2004, Frihamnen Lennart Henriksson, the former head of the maritime customs of the port of Stockholm, stated in the Swedish television program “Investigation” that Soviet military equipment was on board the sunken ferry on the day of his death.

According to him, in 1994, the ferry "Estonia" several times transported goods that were forbidden to be examined by customs officers. This was confirmed by other Swedish customs officials in an interview with local radio.

The testimonies prompted the convening of a special committee of the Riigikogu to investigate the sinking of the ferry Estonia. The commission established that military equipment was indeed carried on the ferry. The information was confirmed by a representative of the Swedish Ministry of Defense. The vice-chairman of the commission, Evelyn Sepp, connects the cause of the death of the ferry with this fact.

In her opinion, some Estonian politicians also knew about the transport of weapons on board a civilian ship: Mart Laar, Juhan Parts, Andrus Ansip and Trivimi Velliste.

CAUSE UNKNOWN

The work of the fourth commission was terminated in 2009. The government concluded that it had failed to find new facts.

In September last year, the Swedish organization SEA (Stiftelsen Estonia offren och Anhöriga), representing the relatives of those who died on the ferry "Estonia", sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Estonia, Taavi Rõivas, asking him to start a new investigation into the causes of the disaster. SEA did not receive any answer about whether it was received and registered.

This spring, the association turned to the Estonian embassy in Sweden to find out the fate of this document. To no avail.