Most of you may not recall the ferry Estonia which sailed from Tallinn to Stockholm and sank during a storm on September 28, 1994. This accident resulted in the loss of 852 lives, while only 137 were rescued. It is one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century and deadliest shipwreck disaster in the Baltic Sea in peacetime, it is also one of the most mysterious accident shrouded in secrecy. Back then investigation concluded that the cause for the horrific accident was a design flaw of the ship. Apparently the ship sank in 20 minutes because the bow door of the vessel was not able to sustain the impact of the waves.
The Swedish press presented a different story which lead to this accident which took so many lives. According to them, the ferry Estonia was sailing with military equipment by representatives of the Armed Forces. The former commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, Mr. Ove Vistorine, stated that the commission investigating the Estonia accident was not aware of the transportation of the military equipment. The military attaché from the Baltics, Mr. Lindman, said that this particular transport may have been a part of the military intelligence KSI.
Estonians are also weary of the official investigation; some have even suggested that the cause of the 
accident may have been a collision with a submarine or sabotage. The Swedish government intends to start up a new investigation due to some of the information which has been recently brought to light.
The ferry was a German production. The shipbuilder, Meyer Werft, was outraged by the initial investigation because they were always known for quality decided to run their own investigation which produced the same results as the previously mentioned. Another hole was discovered on the vessel which does not align with the initial investigation and that the probable reason for such cover up may be due to a military secret. The place where the ferry sank was pronounced a burial place and due to an international agreement prohibits any further research. That did not stop a German TV journalist and the Greek American businessman and a broadcaster, Bemes. They went on expedition and captured on a film from the sight. The crew that ran the expedition came to a conclusion that the initial investigation does not align with the sight at the bottom of the waters. The surviving passengers have testified numerous of times that right before the ferry sank that they heard a sound of explosion. This has been proven by the expedition as well since two parts of the ferry were noticed to have traces of the same explosion that the surviving passengers testified. This data was later confirmed by the American and British experts. It was discovered that the ferry Estonia was actually transporting military equipment at the request of the Estonian government. During the accident, there have been several people deemed missing, such as the captain and the second in command of the Estonia.
All the new findings which keep on developing to the surface have outraged the families of those who went down with the ferry. The families of those who were lost with the Estonia never got the chance to bury their loved ones because the government would not proceed with the expedition of extraction of the bodies.
To make matters worse, an independent investigation revealed that the vessel was not even fit for use. The Estonia had inspection 12 hours before the accident and was found that there were damaged ramps and a number of other problems which were not resolved before the vessel departed for its final voyage.
More and more information keeps on coming to the surface about this horrific accident even though this ferry has been under water for over 16 years. This goes to show that the truth has a funny way of sneaking up on us no matter how hard we are trying to bury it. Let’s hope that the truth will be found and that the families of the loved ones can finally have a closure of what truly happen that night when their lives were altered forever.
The Estonia Agreement 1995, a signed by the governments of Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Denmark, and the UK, declared sanctity over the site, prohibiting its citizens from even approaching the wreck.
The question is what is the government trying to cover up?
Today ferry Estonia lies on the bottom of the Baltic Sea together with countless bodies of the victims never recovered. The wreck is closely monitored by radar of the Finnish Navy guarding the site from intruders.
