Close relatives of the deceased are organising an independent expedition to the wreck of Estonia

The SA Mare Liberum fund that was established upon an initiative of close relatives of people who died in the sinking of MS Estonia organises a privately initiated expedition to the wreck of the ferry, the goal of which is to find answers to questions that have still not been given by state investigations over that past 27 years.

“Although during these decades numerous different investigations have been carried out, they have not been able to give the survivors and close relatives of the deceased exhaustive answers regarding the reason why Estonia perished. Quite on the contrary, diving operations performed in the past two years have led to new suspicions and questions which require a serious investigation,” said the manager of the SA Mare Liberum fund that was created in summer this year.

Former state prosecutor of Estonia Margus Kurm, who in 2005-2009 was the head of the committee for the investigation of the sinking of Estonia formed by the Government of Estonia, pointed out seven important questions, answers to which will be sought in the course of the expedition and the follow-up scientific analysis:

1. Why and when did the visor disconnect from the ship?
2. Did the ramp completely open before the sinking of the ship?
3. What exactly are the damage locations on the right deck, when and what caused such damage?
4. Why and when did intermediary walls of the abaft and car deck of the ship become damaged?
5. Does the hull of the ship have any more damaged locations of which we do not know?
6. What objects are located around the wreck and in the assumed trajectory of the sinking of the ship, and what is their connection with the sinking of the ship?
7. How exactly did different parts of the ship get filled with water?

Although SA Mare Liberum is planning a privately initiated expedition, its goal is not necessarily to challenge the results of the state-led investigation or debunk previous official versions. “We agree to extensively cooperate with safety investigation bodies during the conduct of our investigations and collection of evidence. Nevertheless, we are confident that evidence must be analysed, and conclusions must be made separately, preferably by a number of different international expert groups. This way we will not allow a situation where governments again form a state commission which, despite offering all parties a satisfactory compromise, will not find the truth,” noted Kurm.

The expedition is planned for September

In the course of the investigation project, SA Mare Liberum plans to conduct underwater research in order to investigate the shipwreck on the sea bottom, and to interview survivors of the catastrophe once again. After gathering evidence, the entire collected material will undergo a thorough scientific analysis. Additionally, a 3D model of the bow visor of Estonia has been prepared, which now makes it possible to study damage of the visor from the distance.

The diving expedition is planned for the second half of this year’s September, and it will be conducted using RS SENTINEL. The ship belongs to the German company RS OFFSHORE which is managed and owned by Kurt Rohde. During the voyage multibeam and side-scan sonars, a magnetometer, an airlift and other necessary machines will be used. The expedition will include two crews of underwater robots with a total of four robots of different sizes, as well as four divers with supporting personnel and equipment. During diving operations damage spots on the hull of Estonia will be mapped and 3D-scanned, and the areas surrounding the car deck and the shipwreck will be studied.

Materials gathered in the course of the SA Mare Liberum investigation project will be analysed by dr. Andrzej Jasionowski, whose SophusQuorum Pte. Ltd. company registered in Singapore specialises in expert examinations of sea accidents. Dr. Jasionowski has already dealt with topics concerning Estonia before – in 2005-2008 he was a member of the scientific consortium SSPA, which conducted a number of different studies regarding Estonia under the order of the Swedish government.

The activities and the investigation project of SA Mare Liberum are funded from donations and the sale of media rights. The biggest supporter from Estonia is Postimees Grupp which among others owns such media channels as Postimees, Kanal 2, BNS and Radio Kuku.

SA Mare Liberum is a fund that was founded in July this year upon an initiative of close relatives of survivors. The manager of the fund is Margus Kurm. The members of the council are Piret Kergandberg, Raivo Hellerma and Carl Eric Laantee Reintamm.

INFORMATION FOR JOURNALISTS

We will publish picture and video materials gathered in the course of the expedition on the website that was created for this purpose – www.mare-liberum.ee. On the website you will find more specific conditions as to where and how picture and video materials produced during the expedition can be acquired.

If you want to interview Margus Kurm, dr. Andrzej Jasionowski, Kurt Rohde or representatives of the survivors or close relatives of the deceased, please contact Helin Vaher.

Additional information:

Helin Vaher

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