30.9.1994 2:00 Suspicions of a breach of passenger ship Estonia's bow gate were confirmed on Thursday.
"Something has happened in it," says Kari Lehtola, Member of the Research Commission. "People's observations of it are vague, but nonetheless they are there."
According to Lehtola, it is possible that both the liftable visor and the waterproof bow gate behind it have failed. However, he says they have by no means opened up. At least no serious omissions have occurred so far in the fastening of the trucks. According to Lehtola, the amount of water entering the car deck and the speed of the car deck is impossible to say. He does not yet dare to give an estimate of the speed of tilting and sinking. The time fork between tilting and sinking has now stretched between five minutes and an hour, after half an hour at the top on Wednesday. There are major differences in observations, mainly because some of the interviewees have woken up to the ship's tilt later than others.
As early as Wednesday, it was believed that water was released from the bow gate to the Estonia car deck and brought down the ship. Henrik Sillaste, an Estonian machineman who survived the accident, said he saw on the TV monitor in the engine room control room that water was spraying in from the gate seams.
Many rescued passengers also reported that the gate had leaked. The actual waterproof bow gate was behind the visor to be lifted up in estonia. If the visor attachment fails, the waves that strike the bow can throw the visor up. The visor prevents the buckthorns from hitting the bow port, which cannot withstand their force. According to experts, five to ten waves are enough to slam so much water on an open car deck that the ship capsizes. The exact location of estonia, which sank on the night before Wednesday, is still unknown.
On Thursday morning, the Maritime Administration's Suunta vessel drove into the waters of Utö in search of the wreck, but the intensified wind prevented the work. The wreck lies at a depth of 60-90 meters about 35 kilometers from Utö to the south of the city. With two sonars, locating the wreckage should be quite easy. When estonia is found, it can be examined with a coast guard robotic camera. Silja Europa also has problems with her bow gate. The two-part bow gate opening to the side of the vessel is one of the so-forths. the steering roller has been broken by a bearing and the bow gate was not opened at all after the vessel arrived in Stockholm on the night of Thursday. The cars were unloaded and loaded through the back gate. There's a waterproof door behind the bow gate in Europa, and there's nothing wrong with that.
On Thursday, the Government appointed Kari Lehtola, Deputy Judge, Heimo Iivonen, Executive Director of the Finnish Maritime Rescue Society, and Tuomo Karppinen, Doctor of Technology at VTT VTT's shipbuilding laboratory, as representatives of Finland. The representation set by the Estonian Government did not satisfy President Lennart Mer , who appointed Uno Laurio , a sea captain , as his own representative . Estonian Transport Minister Andi Meister and Minister of the Interior Heiki Arikke - suspected of involvement in illegal arms deals - sit on the Commission. The other members are government officials.
Estonia has already doubted the impartiality of the Commission, as the Estonian State is involved in the Estline shipping company. The Commission includes Estonia, Sweden and Finland. The group met for the first time in Turku on Thursday. Visor protects bow gate Wind prevented the search for wreckage Finland named its researcher
