No, it wouldn't.
But explosions and collisions are not the only things that would make me fall off my feet, etc. If I tell you, "I heard a bang and fell off my feet," I did not testify that there was an explosion. Oh, there might have been, but I didn't say that there was.
No, I demand that if you say survivors claim there was an explosion that they actually claimed it.
Name these several eyewitnesses with their testimonies or summaries thereof. Who reported hearing a series of explosions? Several heard a series of bangs and a violent motion of the ship, but that's not the same as saying "I was a witness to a series of explosions."
Look, all we have is what they actually said (well, even less -- all I can find are summaries written by third parties due to my linguistic limitations). So you tell me who reports a series of explosions and show me your evidence of this report.
For a long time, we more or less took your word that there were reports of explosions. It seems we should not have done so. You've given us next to nothing when it comes to explosions. One person -- one -- said that it "sounded like" an explosion. Others said nothing about an explosion.
Prove me wrong. Show me that I've missed some important testimony.
. Anders Ericson - cabin 4131 - 45 years old - port outside (3rd cabin from forward)
went to cabin at 22.15 hours (Swedish time), but impossible to sleep, each time the vessel met a wave it was shaking/vibrating severely;
ca. 24.00 hours (Swedish time)
came suddenly two heavy bangs, one straight after the other which almost threw him out of his athwartships bed, he realised that something must be wrong, thus got up and dressed himself
Mikael Öun - cabin 4217 - port inside, middle.
was in bed and continuously heard banging noises which he believed to be caused by the waves hitting against the bow;
he slept a bit and woke up again and finally was fully awake when he heard a particularly loud bang and because the vessel started to behave differently in the sea state;
he noticed that the vessel started to roll from side to side instead of pitching against the sea;
he also heard 3 heavy scraping noises which followed straight one after the other with some seconds in between and after these scraping noises the vessel heeled severely to starboard;
Eckard Klug - cabin 4214 - 54 years old - port inside middle
was in bed, heard many bangs which he had never heard on his many previous voyages, in his opinion these were cars floating on the car deck;
in his opinion the unsecured cars and trucks had moved forward against the bow ramp due to the hard setting in of vessel's bow and forced the bow ramp open and this is the cause of the casualty;
Klug heard
in addition to the above explained bangs a bang which was heavy as if breaking of a thick plate;
Stephan Duijndam - cabin 4221 - port inside middle
at 23.00 hours to bed;
woke up at 01.00 hours from a noise as if the vessel had collided with something,
heard several cracking/crashing noises thereafter;
a little later the vessel heeled to starboard to such an extent that he was thrown out of his bed
Jukka Pekka Ihalainen - cabin 4212 - port inside - (cabin mate of truck driver Leo Sillanpää)
truck driver who had previously been with the Coast Guard/Navy at Russarö;
to bed at 22.30 hours, woke up due to radio music at 00.32 hours, turned down the sound and slept again;
woke up again shortly afterwards from
3 very hard bangs/crashes;
Morten Boje Jensen - 28 years old - cabin 4603 - port outside, 2nd cabin behind the Reception
ca. 22.40 hours Swedish time in bed - 23.00 hours switched off the light, but could not sleep, he heard continuous "small banging noises" which did not appear to him to be natural.
after a certain time, cannot say how much later,
he heard 3 "bangs" one after the other.
Sten Jolind - cabin 5135 - first outside cabin, port side, forward
was on deck 7 several times and looked over the foreship; heard heavy bangs and thought that the vessel was going much too fast;
at 00.00 hours to bed;
before 01.00 hours
2-3 really heavy bangs from forward;
Leif Bogren - cabin 5128 - port inside, 4th cabin from forward
to bed at 23.30 hours (Swedish time);
vessel behaved like a small boat also does when slamming over the waves - explains the many noises created by a vessel proceeding against heavy seas;
so he was lying there and listened and suddenly there was the bom-bom, which was no more the same noise, it was not a good noise;
he continued lying still and listening, and was fascinated about why they were proceeding so fast?
from the time he went to bed to the first unusual noise bom-bom to when the engines stopped maybe 10-15 minutes had passed, i.e. it was 23.40/23.45 hours Swedish time;
at first there was an additional sound with this bom - an enormous bom-bom - then came bom;
he was lying awake and then came the next BOM.
This was definitely a different noise, now the sea was higher and they were proceeding slowly against it and
then came the next VROM BOM, now they were smashing in the hull plates of the vessel and then there was also a CRASH.
Sarah Hedrenius - in the Café Neptunus
asleep since ca. 21.30 hours, but felt the hard movements;
woke up from two heavy bangs which made the vessel shake (she thought they had hit a rock), vessel moved up and down
Paul Barney - in the Café Neptunus
woke up from a bang/shock and thought there had been a collision;
then he heard cracking and scraping noises and something was gliding along the vessel's hull side;
. Pierre Thiger - Admiral's Pub on deck 5 - together with Altti Hakanpää
ca. 23.45 hours (Swedish time) = 00.45 hours ship's time
he heard a dull bang and ca. 1/2 minute later a similar bang, these were really sharp and short sounds which he clearly heard in spite of the music. The vessel was shaking somewhat. The noises were not created by waves striking against the bow;
Ronnie Bergqvist - Policeman ST Section
vessel started to shake and vibrate;
bar personnel took down the bottles from the shelves;
just after 01.00 hours the vessel heeled first to port, then followed
a very hard push combined with a bang/crash and then the vessel heeled very severely to starboard.
Kent Härstedt - member of a social team
was sleeping in his cabin on deck 4;
ca. 00.00 hours
woke up from a "muffled" sound which was nevertheless "heavy" - like something moving from side to side and then
crashing against the hull with force;
Marianne Ehn - cabin 6222 - 59 years old
it was 01.00 hours;
shortly afterwards the vessel was diving into a deep wave trough, there was
a heavy bang - the vessel heeled severely and the engines stopped;
before this she had already noticed that
something was beating heavily against the vessel.
Alexander Voronin - cabin 6320 or cabin 6230
cabin 6320 together with cousin Vassili and uncle Vasili Krjutjkov;
ca. 00.30 hours
very hard bang;
slight heel to starboard,
some minutes later another much stronger bang, more heeling;
another bang and vessel heeled further;
Christer Eklöf - cabin 4219
The vessel was pitching extremely hard which caused the hull to shake and vibrate almost continuously.
After a while, he believes it was ca. 24.00 hours ST / 01.00 hours ET,
the first of three very heavy bangs was felt and the foreship was rising and fell back and there was another heavy bang, the foreship rose again and the third bang - metal to metal - was heard and felt, followed by the heel to starboard.
There was less than one minute between the last bang and the heel to starboard.
Ervin Roden - safety officer - cabin 7013
to bed at 21.00 hours, had been on car deck before;
felt
one bang and the vessel was shaking, after some time
another bang, the vessel rocked;
heavy heel to starboard, which caused him to slide to the foot end of his bed
Ulla Marianne Tenman - outside on deck 7 - starboard side
from her cabin 1098 she went up to deck 7 and waited,
suddenly heavy bang and the vessel heeled;
some time before casualty
heard heavy bangs and something beating against the hull.
If you do not believe these passengers experienced what they say they experienced or that it was 'like a screen door slamming in the wind', that is your prerogative. There is no requirement for them to have investigated the cause of their experiences. It is enough they managed to get out alive.
