Ok, so you seem to be asserting the damage was likely caused by a collision with a Swedish/NATO/USS-type submarine. Are you claiming the collision was intentional? If yes, why would an allied sub ram the ferry? If no, why does all the guff about military equipment matter?
My default position tends to be 'cock up' rather than anything deliberate. If the vessel was struck by a submarine, then obviously it involves the military, thus it is likely to have been an accident, such as a Swedish submarine escorting the military equipment. The fact they have been extremely secretive about the whole thing, seems to suggest this, especially their wanting to cover the whole thing in concrete, like some kind of mafia concealment. It is little wonder the relatives of the dead are angry at this idea and that the government has been less than candid. OTOH, if it was sabotage, I feel sure they would have been more transparent about it. Remember, this relates to the end of the cold war with the Soviet Union. It definitely involves espionage and counter espionage.
Had the M/S Estonia sank like the
Herald of Free Enterprise - ignoring that it would have capsized and floated belly up - why would they leave the 'confirmed culprits' of the accident on the sea bed. Surely one would have brought up the bow visor bolts, seeing as they are to blame.
The JAIC has orally stated that the reason for throwing the bolt back into the water was that the helicopter was full and that the bolt was too heavy - its weight was 30 kilograms! However the JAIC brought up eleven other parts of the ship (as per FR8.4), none of which was thrown into the water and, including e.g. the bell, which was much heavier (70 kilograms) than the bolt.
The side locks were not recovered from the wreck. It is said that the divers estimated the play in the lock to ten millimetres. The visor lugs are said to have been torn off from the visor in the downwards and aft directions.
Heiwaco
Notandum the term 'aft' means 'towards the stern'.
I quote this because of the sheer amount of intricate detail.
It is also worth remembering that MI6 and KSI were helping Estonia rebuild its intelligence services at the time. The Swedish government at the time, headed by Carl Bildt had strong links to the CIA, who would of course be very interested in this military material.
The other strange thing is the disappearance of nine members of the Estonian crew, who were together in a life boat and rescued by M/S Mariella of the Viking Line. It reported 40 survivors rescued, yet the commander eventually only got a medal for saving less than that. The nine names that appeared on the Mariella survivors list, together with date of birth, written down at the time, and using a nickname for one of the twins, instead of her official name, indicates whoever was writing this information own was either genuinely recording the survivors using the information they supplied to him or her, or somehow someone somewhere dictated this list and these people, including Captain Piht, were not rescued after all.
Around about the same time, two empty planes arrived at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, one with a receipt for passengers to Amsterdam, the others to Maine, USA. Some believe these planes carried the 'disappeared' nine crew, who were all Estonian. There was actually an Interpol Warrant out for Avo Piht. However, the Captain in charge that night was actually Captain Andresson. So where was he when the May Day was sent? That was sent by second mate Anders Tammes.
If it was an accident, why the lack of investigation and 'armchair calculations'?
So, hopefully, now that that Gorbochov era has passed and a new
glasnost in place, the predominantly Swedish and Estonian families and friends, and survivors, together with the other thirteen nationalities, will find out the truth in detail and be entitled to proper compensation. If it was an accident, bring up the bow visor bolts and the ramp door.
