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    MS ESTONIA - 1994 Ferry Disaster

    Documentary Casts Doubt on Official Finding in 1994 Ferry Disaster

    After the Estonia sank in a storm off Finland, investigators said that a bow door had been bashed in by heavy seas. But a new series has raised disturbing fresh details.



    An undated photograph of the Estonia ferry. The sinking of the vessel, which killed 852 people, is one of Europe’s worst maritime disasters.


    By Thomas Erdbrink
    Sept. 30, 2020


    Evidence collected by two documentary filmmakers is challenging the official explanation of how 852 people died in the 1994 sinking of a ferry in the Baltic Sea, one of Europe’s greatest maritime disasters.

    The oceangoing passenger and car ferry, the Estonia, was en route from the Estonian capital, Tallinn, to Stockholm when it was stricken and sank rapidly in stormy seas. An official investigation found that its bow door had been ripped off by the heavy seas, flooding the car deck. The ship went down in less than an hour, with only 137 survivors.

    A subsequent investigation in 2008 said that the ship had been traveling too fast in the surging waters and that the crew, while trying to save the ship, made the critical mistake of turning it and causing it to capsize.

    But the five-episode documentary, which started streaming online in Scandinavia and Finland on Monday, draws a different and far darker conclusion: The filmmakers found a previously unrecorded gash in the hull of the ship about 13 feet long and four feet wide.

    The conclusion of experts cited in the documentary was that the ferry had been struck by what was probably a slowly moving but extremely heavy object, causing it to sink.

    Bodies of victims of the disaster were transferred to land in 1994. The Estonia went down in less than an hour, with only 137 survivors.

    In a joint statement released on Monday, the governments of Estonia, Finland and Sweden said they would investigate the claim, which comes after years of complaints by families of the victims and survivors over the lack of a proper inquiry.

    After the tragedy, the decision was made not to salvage the Estonia and give the victims a land burial, but instead to leave the ship on the seabed with the bodies interred inside. The Swedish authorities then planned to entomb the ferry in an underwater mausoleum by covering the wreck in a 12-inch layer of concrete, but the plan was abandoned after families of the victims objected.

    Instead, the area where the ship lies about 260 feet beneath the waves was declared a sea grave, which prohibited further exploration of the wreckage. Violators of that order risk a two-year prison term.

    For Henrik Evertsson and Bendik Mondal, the two leaders of the team that made the Discovery Networks documentary, that presented a problem.

    After interviewing survivors and collecting evidence for the documentary, “Estonia: The Find That Changes Everything,” they say they found several serious inconsistencies in the official investigation.

    “The first thing that really hit us was the fact that, in the final official report, the surviving witnesses had not been interviewed thoroughly,” Mr. Evertsson, who is from Sweden, said in a telephone interview.

    After piecing things together, a different scenario emerged, he said. “Everything started with a big bang, not one that you hear, but one that everyone felt.”

    In the documentary, a Norwegian maritime expert concluded that the Estonia had been hit by an object with a mass of 1,000 to 5,000 tons, moving at a relatively low speed, about three to 10 kilometers an hour. “It can also be that it weighed less and traveled faster,” Mr. Evertsson said. “It created heavy damage.”

    Well aware of the penalty they might face, Mr. Evertsson and Mr. Mondal decided to go ahead and use a remotely operated underwater camera to map out the entire hull of the ship.

    “We felt as journalists that we were obliged to see if there was a hole in the ship, after researching and hearing all witness accounts and taking into account the speed the Estonia went down with,” Mr. Evertsson said.

    They decided not to enter the vessel to avoid disturbing any remains. “But we methodically scanned the hull of the ship,” Mr. Evertsson said. “At some point, on the starboard side, the hull just suddenly ended, and there was a massive gap.”

    A Norwegian maritime expert concluded that the Estonia had been hit by an object with a mass of 1,000 to 5,000 tons.Credit...
    “There was a long and relatively narrow hole compared to the length,” he continued, “with one piece of cracked steel pushed inwards into the ship and another part bending out.”

    Another expert interviewed in the documentary said that were no indications of an explosion, a theory that was offered after it was reported that the ferry had been carrying military equipment.

    One survivor, Carl Eric Reintamm, said that he had seen a large white object in the water next to the ferry, testimony that experts interviewed for the show said had not been taken into account before.

    Documentary Casts Doubt on Official Finding in 1994 Ferry Disaster - The New York Times

    The documentary makers did not speculate further about what the object may have been, leaving that for future, official investigations. But they have succeeded in raising strong doubts.

    “I believe the truth is something other than what people have been told until now,” Mr. Reintamm said.

    Documentary Casts Doubt on Official Finding in 1994 Ferry Disaster - The New York Times

  2. #2
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    ^Interesting to read the comments under the article and a link in the comments. But perhaps some will not like it, it's about theories of false flag, not only at this accident.

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    I watched this mini doc about it recently


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    There was an excellent British documentary done around 15-20 years ago. BBC or Ch4.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    ^Interesting to read the comments under the article and a link in the comments. But perhaps some will not like it, it's about theories of false flag, not only at this accident.
    I always wondered how the front of the ship could just bust open like that from rough water
    . It's never happened before or since. But there's just not enough evidence or theories. If they hit a submarine , the sub wouldn't be able to leave the scene. A mine maybe ? Maybe the craft was sabatoged with a bomb planted at the front loading area to blow it open.

    This happened during the Chechen war so it would be interesting to know who was on board.

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    "The filmmakers found a previously unrecorded gash in the hull of the ship about 13 feet long and four feet wide.


    The conclusion of experts cited in the documentary was that the ferry had been struck by what was probably a slowly moving but extremely heavy object, causing it to sink.

    After the tragedy, the decision was made not to salvage the Estonia and give the victims a land burial, but instead to leave the ship on the seabed with the bodies interred inside. The Swedish authorities then planned to entomb the ferry in an underwater mausoleum by covering the wreck in a 12-inch layer of concrete, but the plan was abandoned after families of the victims objected.


    Instead, the area where the ship lies about 260 feet beneath the waves was declared a sea grave, which prohibited further exploration of the wreckage. Violators of that order risk a two-year prison term"


    In other words the ship hit a partially submerged NATO submarine, and the respective governments did/are doing everything in their powers to keep the lid on it.

    Could you imagine if they had hit a sub full of Ivan's, in which case you can sure the Swedes would have spared no effort to salvage the ship, and seek maximum political and financial damages from the Ivan's.
    Last edited by Listerman; 19-10-2020 at 11:58 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Listerman View Post
    "The filmmakers found a previously unrecorded gash in the hull of the ship about 13 feet long and four feet wide.


    The conclusion of experts cited in the documentary was that the ferry had been struck by what was probably a slowly moving but extremely heavy object, causing it to sink.

    After the tragedy, the decision was made not to salvage the Estonia and give the victims a land burial, but instead to leave the ship on the seabed with the bodies interred inside. The Swedish authorities then planned to entomb the ferry in an underwater mausoleum by covering the wreck in a 12-inch layer of concrete, but the plan was abandoned after families of the victims objected.


    Instead, the area where the ship lies about 260 feet beneath the waves was declared a sea grave, which prohibited further exploration of the wreckage. Violators of that order risk a two-year prison term"


    In other words the ship hit a partially submerged Swedish submarine, and the respective governments did/are doing everything in their powers to keep the lid on it.

    Could you imagine if they had hit a sub full of Ivans, in which case you can sure the Swedes would have spared no effort to salvage the ship, and seek maximum political and financial damages from the Ivans.

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    Sanked?



    Is that Swedish or Estonian for bullshit?
    Last edited by Edmond; 19-10-2020 at 07:12 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    Sanked?



    Is that Swedish or Estonian for bullshit?
    The guy is going so far as to say it was intentional. Which is why I think he made up the word sanked.

    I don't believe that but if you look at how many ships are at sea at any given time , you'll notice that rough seas don't tend to bust off the front of ships

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    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    Sanked?

    Is that Swedish or Estonian for bullshit?
    In the comments under the article, this can be found:

    Al Eugene
    louisville ky
    Sept. 30
    Is it "sunk" or "sank"?


    Oct. 1
    @Al Eugene Sank is the past tense, sunk is the past participle. Basically, if you need to have a variation of the verb “to have” before it, then “sunk” is used.

    The boat sinks
    The boat sank yesterday
    I visited the boat yesterday, but it had sunk the day before.
    Quite a polite advice, something like we see here daily from our language supermen...


    BTW, another polite and interesting comment:
    Helje Kaskel
    Sweden
    Oct. 1
    The coverup has lasted ever since the ship sank, i.e. 26 years. Here's an interesting article, scroll down to The Estonia Catastrophe.

    NATO'S "SEARCH & RESCUE" EXERCISE

    Although it is seldom mentioned, the Estonia catastrophe occurred on the first day of a 10-day NATO naval exercise called Cooperative Venture 94, in which more than fifteen ships and "a number of maritime aircraft" were prepared to conduct "humanitarian and search and rescue operations" in nearby waters. The NATO exercise, which involved ten NATO member states and the Baltic "partner" nations of Russia, Sweden, Poland, and Lithuania, was to be staged in the Skagerrak, between Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and the Norwegian Sea, according to the NATO press release about the exercise from September 16, 1994.

    The NATO nations who participated in the exercise were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States. Many other allies and partners sent observers to the exercise, according to the NATO press release.

    The fact that Estonia sank as the submarines, ships, planes, personnel, and satellites from the navies of fourteen nations were preparing to begin their ten-day "search and rescue operations" exercise off the coast of Sweden raises several obvious questions that deserve to be answered:

    Christopher Bollyn






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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    I always wondered how the front of the ship could just bust open like that from rough water
    . It's never happened before or since.
    Through an unfortunate series of events resulting in a freak accident, that the once happens, the industry implements new design and safety measures to ensure it doesn't happen again.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    I don't believe that but if you look at how many ships are at sea at any given time , you'll notice that rough seas don't tend to bust off the front of ships
    Most ships don't have have a bow visor, they have closed fronts.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    BTW, another polite and interesting comment:
    Helje Kaskel
    Sweden
    Oct. 1
    The coverup has lasted ever since the ship sank, i.e. 26 years. Here's an interesting article, scroll down to The Estonia Catastrophe.

    NATO'S "SEARCH & RESCUE" EXERCISE

    Although it is seldom mentioned, the Estonia catastrophe occurred on the first day of a 10-day NATO naval exercise called Cooperative Venture 94, in which more than fifteen ships and "a number of maritime aircraft" were prepared to conduct "humanitarian and search and rescue operations" in nearby waters. The NATO exercise, which involved ten NATO member states and the Baltic "partner" nations of Russia, Sweden, Poland, and Lithuania, was to be staged in the Skagerrak, between Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and the Norwegian Sea, according to the NATO press release about the exercise from September 16, 1994.

    The NATO nations who participated in the exercise were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States. Many other allies and partners sent observers to the exercise, according to the NATO press release.

    The fact that Estonia sank as the submarines, ships, planes, personnel, and satellites from the navies of fourteen nations were preparing to begin their ten-day "search and rescue operations" exercise off the coast of Sweden raises several obvious questions that deserve to be answered:

    Christopher Bollyn
    Skagerrak is on the other side of Sweden, far away from the place in the Baltic Sea where MS Estonia sank.
    No dots to connect here.

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    Remember the Herald of Free Enterprise that capsized off of Zeebrugge in 1987... killing 193 passengers.

    She set sail with her bow doors still open as there was so much competition for speed on the cross channel ferry runs.

    The sea flooded in and she capsized immediately. But that was a different to the bow doors failing, and was put down to negligence.

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    In modern ferry design over the last 25 years, though, bow visors have given way to clam doors. Instead of one large visor, two halves open horizontally to reveal the loading ramp and deck. These are believed to be safer than bow visor doors, as in a bow visor door, the forces acting on the door from the impact of the waves are absorbed by the hinges and locks, which may fail. With clam doors, the forces of the waves are absorbed by the surrounding bow superstructure. Furthermore, on seagoing vessels there should be inner bow doors or 'collision bulkhead doors' in place behind the loading ramp. These doors are an upper extension of the collision bulkhead and act as a secondary barrier against water entering the car deck, should the primary bow door(s) fail.


    There have been several recorded incidents in which bow visors have partially opened whilst the ship is in motion, resulting in some ships having to have their visor locking mechanisms strengthened.


    Bow visor failure has also directly caused the loss of some ships, such as the MS Estonia in 1994.

    Bow visor - Wikipedia

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    " in a bow visor door, the forces acting on the door from the impact of the waves are absorbed by the hinges and locks, which may fail"


    It's one of those design features where you think, HTF did they manage to pass that off.

    where the forces of the sea are put on the hinges and locks, and if they fail, there's a massive giant hole.




    And where does the giant hole lead to?

    It leads directly into the car deck.



    And it's up high, right.

    Oh. No, it's at sea level.

    .... at the rear?

    Oh, no, right at the front.


    Right.

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    The overall design and integrity of Roll on roll off vessels has always been "suspect" failure of watertight integrity leads to massive "free surface movement", which is what sinks the ship, that's why "compartmentalised" vessels are the norm!
    Design keeps costs down though!

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