The Swedish Accident Investigation Board wants to investigate Estonia's hull
The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority says it wants to analyse the hull of the sunken passenger ferry Estonia to assess the newly discovered hole discovered by a documentary film crew earlier this autumn.
It wants to examine the metal material of the ferry and the conditions of the Baltic Sea bed where it rests.
Jonas Bäckstrand at the investigation authority does not exclude sending a team of divers down.
The work with the preliminary assessment is led by Estonia.
The passenger ship ESTONIA sank on 28 September 1994 during a voyage from Tallinn to Stockholm. Of the 989 people on board, 852 died. In accordance with an agreement between the prime ministers of Estonia, Finland and Sweden, a joint accident investigation commission was formed to investigate the accident. A final report was published in December 1997.
On 28 September 2020, film material was published that showed a hole in the starboard side of the hull.
The Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau has initiated a preliminary assessment of the new information and requested assistance from the corresponding authorities in Finland and Sweden. The Finnish Safety Investigation Authority and the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority have decided to assist the Estonian authority.
The purpose of a preliminary assessment after a maritime accident is normally to consider whether an accident investigation should be initiated. In this case, the preliminary assessment aims to consider whether the new information gives reason to revise the conclusions drawn in the 1997 report, whether new investigative measures should be taken and, if so, which ones.
The three accident commissions now work together in accordance with the international rules on investigation of maritime accidents. During the work, the 1995 agreement between the three states on protection of the wreck will be respected.
Update 27 November 2020
The M/S Estonia preliminary assessment has advanced.
The Safety Investigation Authorities of Estonia, Finland and Sweden – led by flag State Estonia - currently hold weekly meetings in order to shed light on the occurrence of the two holes in the hull of the wreck of M/S Estonia. The ongoing pandemic affects the possibilities to meet in person.
The safety investigators working on the assessment have had the opportunity to review the unedited raw film material, which partly was screened on D-play 28 September, 2020, in the presence of the production company. They have also had the opportunity to inspect the visor of M/S Estonia in Sweden.
The Swedish Investigation Authority (Statens haverikommission, SHK) has held a meeting with representatives of next of kin and some of the survivors (29 October 2020) and are planning further meetings with survivors. In order to further evaluate the relevance of the new film material and to compare it to the Joint Accident Investigation (JAIC) report, documents need to be acquired and further analysis conducted. Safety investigators have already requested to get hold of such documents as the drawings of M/S Estonia and seabed charts. Metallurgical and structural analysis will need to be conducted in order to help determine the cause of the two new holes in the hull.
