SCHRIFTENREIHE SCHIFFBAU Festschrift anlässlich des 100 ...

side, the life saving equipment on the starboard side was rendered useless. About half of the
persons, who succeeded in abandoning the ship, survived the elements on the rafts or in the
sea having a water temperature of 10°-11° centigrade and about 4 m high waves.
Perhaps at about 01:20 a weak female voice called “Häire, häire, laeval on häire” the
Estonian words for “Alarm, alarm, there is alarm on the ship”, over the public address
system. Just a moment later an internal alarm for the crew was transmitted over the public
address system.
A first Mayday call of the MV Estonia was received at 01:22, about 37 minutes after the
seaman of the watch had reported a heavy crash behind the closed bow ramp on the vehicle
deck. A second Mayday call was transmitted shortly afterwards and by 01:24 14 ship- and
shore-based radio stations, including the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in
Turku, had received the Mayday calls (JAIC, 1997).
At about this time all four main engines had already stopped. Also the main generators had
stopped somewhat later and the emergency generator had started automatically, supplying
power to essential equipment and to limited lights in public areas and on deck. The ship was
now drifting more or less in beam seas.
The list to starboard increased further and water had started to enter the accommodation
decks. Flooding of the accommodation continued progressively as more windows broke
under the water pressure and the starboard side of the ship was completely submerged at
about 01:30. During the final stage of flooding the list was more than 90 degrees. The ship
sank with a stern trim, and disappeared from the radar screens of ships in the area at about
01:50.
During the night and early morning, helicopters and assisting ships rescued 138 people, of
whom one later died in hospital. During the day and on the two following days 92 bodies
were recovered. Most of the missing persons accompanied the vessel to the seabed.
The wreck was found in international waters within Finland’s Search and Rescue Region,
resting on the seabed at a water depth of about 80 m with a heading of 95° and a starboard
list of about 120°. The visor was missing and the ramp was partly open.
The position of the wreck is 59°22,9´ N, 21°41,0´ E. The visor, which has been recovered,
was located at 59°23,0´ N, 21°39,2´ E, about one nautical mile west of the wreck.
This description of the course of events is partly based on the JAIC Final Report (1997). It is
modified to fit in some individual testimonies and it of course reflects the HSVA-Consortium
view of the course of events.
2 Conclusions
2.1 Introduction
The ship list as a function of time was first determined by TUHH based on the survivors`
testimonies. This curve as such is plausible and good for comparison with the hydrostatic
analysis of the ship behavior. For comparison with the simulations with the HSVA ROLLS, the
initial sudden heel described by many survivors was included in the HSVA-curve together
with the somewhat higher heeling angle at the end based on the photograph of passenger
P92. See the curves in Figure 78.
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