Axxman300
Philosopher
You need to end this clown show.The Estonia sank stern down first, bow in the air. The depth was 80m, the length of the vessel was 155m. Do the maths, So now the 22m gaping hole in the hull has been confirmed, although not mentioned at all in the original JAIC Report (how could they miss it?). So the trigger 'initial findings' is that this was caused by rocks where it landed and rolled against. This is classic Change Management, preparing the public for a conclusion it was the rocks that caused the hole. Let's see if it all adds up.
The "hole" is from impacting on the rock outcrop on the sea floor. It wasn't the cause of the sinking because it didn't exist until after sinking. Not only is the hole OBVIOUS impact damage, it follows the seam of the hull plate. Only a complete moron would interpret the gouge as damage from an explosion. And the reason it wasn't seen in the first investigation is due to the hull lying more on its side at the time. In the decades since the sinking the hull has rolled over enough to allow DSRV access (and DSRVs are much smaller today than in the 1990s). You can't report what you don't observe, at least in the adult world.
Of course it sank stern-first. That's where the water was. And the bow was considerably lighter.
Usually the preliminary report and the final report agree. There's more details in the final report.