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Estonia

M/S Finnbirch was on its way from Helsinki, capital of Finland to Århus, Denmark on 1st of November 2006. When it was between Öland and Gotland it lost its control, fell and started to sink. The weather was stormy. The crew had to for wait the rescuers on the ship’s hull. The ship had 14 crew members, two of them died.

In the stormy night of 28th August 1994, Estonian shipping company Estline’s cruiseferry Estonia sank. 852 passengers and crew members died, while 137 survived.

 

When Estonia left the Tallinn port, the wind was only 15-19 knots (7-10 metres per second) and visibility was good. When Estonia left the coast, the weather was getting worse. Wind accelerated to 29-39 knots (15-20 m/s) and wave height was 3-4 metres (10-13 feet). Before and after 1 o’clock am passengers and crew members heard some loud bangs.

The bow visor broke at 1:15 and water started pouring in. People started to rush out. Many passengers were trapped to their cabins. Estonia sank at 1:30 but appeared to the surface again. It finally disappeared from the nearby ships’ radars at 1:50.

 

Estonia’s chief officers sent the first mayday message at 1:22. It was first responded by Viking Line’s cruiseferry Mariella. Mariella was the nearest ship of Estonia. Estonia sent the second mayday message at 1:24. Turku’s Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) received it and took the responsibility of rescue. Estonia’s position was received at 1:29 and nearby ships headed to the accident scene. Silja Line’s Silja Europa communicated with Estonia. The first helicopter left Turku at 2:30. Mariella arrived to the accident scene at 2:12. Silja Europa arrived at 2:30 and the first helicopter at 3:05. There were totally 29 ships and 25 helicopters operating at the accident scene. Ships rescued 34 and helicopters 104 persons. One of them died later.