MS Estonia Case Lands in a French Court

A French court will take up Estonia case again, 15 years after the fatal incident in which 882 people died.

In 1994 the passenger ferry Estonia was sailing from Tallinn to Stockholm when some problems in the bow door made entered an enormous amount of water into the car deck ending with the sinking of the boat.

The trial, promoted by the survivors and the relatives of the deceased, will prosecute the German company Meyer, constructor of the ship, and the French Veritas who certificated the ship as acceptable for traffic.

Mats Öhlén, editorial director of Stockholmnews.com, talked with Estonian Free Press to give his impressions about the reopening of the case.

“I think the question whether or not the issue is still sensitive in Sweden will get different answers depending on who you ask. Among common people, this is not really an issue any more. The boat has sunk and it was a tragedy and that’s it. But if you ask relatives to those who died on the boat, I think there are still some bad feelings, especially when it comes to how it was handled by the government”, said Öhlén.

Beyond the official version of the accident, there have been some others conspiracy theories saying that the Estonia was carrying forbidden cargo and somebody deliberately made the ship sink.

Öhlén also opined on these various theories saying that “concerning the theory of secret transport of weapons between Estonia and Sweden, it is definitely not impossible. Sweden has openly supported all three Baltic States since their independence. Some support has also been military equipment which had been deemed too old in Sweden. It was shipped over to
Estonia and this is not really a secret. About the other conspiracy theories I have no knowledge and therefore no opinion”.