The bow visor broke off in a storm. The car deck flooded and the ship went down in the dark.
On the night of 28 September 1994 the ferry Estonia lost her bow visor in a Baltic storm between Tallinn and Stockholm. Water flooded the vehicle deck, she listed, capsized and sank within about an hour. 852 people died; 137 survived.
Words in this case
- bow visor
- The hinged front section of a ferry's bow that lifts to open the vehicle deck.
- ramp
- The inclined platform vehicles drive over; on a ferry also a door.
- list
- A steady lean of the ship to one side.
- heavy weather
- Strong wind and high seas; the time to reduce speed.
- evacuation
- Getting everybody off the ship in an orderly way.
More words like these in the glossary and in listening practice.
What happened
The Estonia was sailing at speed into heavy seas. The bow visor, the large hinged section of the bow that lifted to open the car deck, was held by locks that had not been designed for the loads of the sea that night. Around one in the morning the locks failed, the visor tore off and pulled the ramp behind it open.
The vehicle deck flooded fast. Within minutes the ship had a heavy list; passengers in the cabins below could not climb the sloping corridors. Many of those who reached the deck had no time to launch rafts properly, and the water was cold. Rescue helicopters and ships found survivors on rafts and in the sea for hours.
The official Joint Accident Investigation Commission of Estonia, Finland and Sweden reported in 1997 that the visor locks were too weak for the loads, that the ship's speed in the conditions was too high, and that the evacuation was made almost impossible by the speed of the list. Later investigations in the 2020s re-examined the wreck and confirmed the failure of the bow structure as the start of the disaster.
Why it happened
- The bow visor locking arrangement was not strong enough for the wave loads at that speed and heading.
- The ship kept her speed in heavy weather, which increased the loads on the bow.
- Once the ramp was open, the vehicle deck flooded and the ship lost stability quickly; there were no divisions on the deck to slow the water.
- The list developed so fast that most passengers below could not get out.
What to remember on board
- Reduce speed and change heading in heavy weather before something breaks, not after.
- Report any unusual noise or movement from bow doors or the visor to the bridge at once; on the Estonia the sounds were heard before the failure.
- Know the way from your cabin to the deck with your eyes closed and the ship on her side.
- Muster drills for passengers are not a formality: on a listing ferry there is no time to read the sign on the cabin door.
What changed afterwards
The Stockholm Agreement and later SOLAS changes required ro-ro ferries to survive water on the vehicle deck; bow door designs, indicators and inspections were tightened across Europe.
Three questions
The kind of questions a knowledge test asks about this case. Keys 1 to 4 answer, Enter goes on.
Read more
Source: Final report on the capsizing of the ro-ro passenger vessel MV Estonia, Joint Accident Investigation Commission of Estonia, Finland and Sweden, 1997; re-investigation reports by the Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau and partners, 2020 to 2023.
On this site: Ro-ro and passenger ships ยท Beaufort scale.
Plain-English summary of an official investigation report. Facts and findings are the investigators'; the wording is ours. Nothing here is legal advice or a substitute for the report itself.