Ship Accidents Finland

Hundreds of people were feared drowned early today when an Estonian passenger ferry with 867 people aboard sank off southwest Finland. "The number of victims will be many hundreds, I fear," Capt. Lt. Mikko Montonen at the Turku Sea Rescue Center told Reuters news service by telephone. One survivor said the ship listed and sank within five minutes. The sinking occurred sometime after midnight. Stormy seas and winds topping 56 m.p.h.

When Lennart and Birgitta Berglund imagine those horrible last moments in the raging Baltic Sea, they like to think Birgitta's parents met death's cold advance in the warmth of each other's arms. Maybe the vacationing couple stayed behind in their cabin as the crippled ferry Estonia flipped on its side and was sucked from the horizon. And maybe they are still there--locked in their final embrace 250 feet beneath the sea. "But we are realistic," Lennart Berglund said.

Two boats arrived here late Wednesday night carrying 32 survivors of a sunken Estonian passenger ferry who had been scooped from the swollen Baltic Sea. Their arrival at the chilly harbor-front terminal brought whimpers of relief from desperate relatives but also brought to a bittersweet close the most tragic day on the Baltic since World War II.

Sweden decided Thursday to leave more than 800 bodies inside the sunken ferry Estonia and preserve the wreck as a grave on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The long-awaited decision immediately drew fire from some relatives who had hoped to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones. "This is one hell of a stupid decision," Kerstin Henriksson, a relative of two of the victims, told the Swedish news agency TT.

The 60-ton front cargo door of the sunken ferry Estonia was torn off during a storm when its locks failed, investigators said Monday after examining video pictures of the sunken ship. More than 800 people were killed in the disaster. The investigators' preliminary conclusions were based on more than 15 hours of videotape taken by remote-controlled cameras of the wrecked ferry, which went down off the coast of Finland in a violent storm Wednesday.

When Lennart and Birgitta Berglund imagine those horrible last moments in the raging Baltic Sea, they like to think Birgitta's parents met death's cold advance in the warmth of each other's arms. Maybe the vacationing couple stayed behind in their cabin as the crippled ferry Estonia flipped on its side and was sucked from the horizon. And maybe they are still there--locked in their final embrace 250 feet beneath the sea. "But we are realistic," Lennart Berglund said.

The 56-ton front door that ripped off the ferry Estonia, causing it to sink in the Baltic Sea last month with more than 900 people aboard, was found Tuesday on the sea floor. Investigators first using sonar and then a camera-equipped robot located the door 1.3 miles west of the wreck about 250 feet below the surface, said Kari Lehtola, a member of the three-nation commission investigating the disaster. The door was torn off its hinges after locks failed during a violent storm Sept.

Sweden decided Thursday to leave more than 800 bodies inside the sunken ferry Estonia and preserve the wreck as a grave on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The long-awaited decision immediately drew fire from some relatives who had hoped to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones. "This is one hell of a stupid decision," Kerstin Henriksson, a relative of two of the victims, told the Swedish news agency TT.

People flocked to Estonia's churches Sunday to honor more than 300 relatives, friends and compatriots killed in the worst maritime disaster in the small Baltic nation's history. At Tallinn's Karli Church, people sang, prayed and shed tears for those who went down with the ill-fated ferry Estonia in the Baltic Sea on Wednesday. "There is no answer for why this disaster has befallen us," Pastor Gustav Piir told the congregation, which was much larger than usual.

Stormy weather postponed a robot search of the wreckage of the ferry Estonia, but murky sonar pictures appeared to show that the ship's cargo door was sheared off. More than 800 people died when the ferry sank Wednesday off the coast of Finland. High winds and waves prevented the deployment of two suitcase-size Sea Owl robots, which are equipped with three cameras and several mechanical arms. They would hover near the ferry and send pictures up to the surface for examination by investigators.

The 56-ton front door that ripped off the ferry Estonia, causing it to sink in the Baltic Sea last month with more than 900 people aboard, was found Tuesday on the sea floor. Investigators first using sonar and then a camera-equipped robot located the door 1.3 miles west of the wreck about 250 feet below the surface, said Kari Lehtola, a member of the three-nation commission investigating the disaster. The door was torn off its hinges after locks failed during a violent storm Sept.

The 60-ton front cargo door of the sunken ferry Estonia was torn off during a storm when its locks failed, investigators said Monday after examining video pictures of the sunken ship. More than 800 people were killed in the disaster. The investigators' preliminary conclusions were based on more than 15 hours of videotape taken by remote-controlled cameras of the wrecked ferry, which went down off the coast of Finland in a violent storm Wednesday.

People flocked to Estonia's churches Sunday to honor more than 300 relatives, friends and compatriots killed in the worst maritime disaster in the small Baltic nation's history. At Tallinn's Karli Church, people sang, prayed and shed tears for those who went down with the ill-fated ferry Estonia in the Baltic Sea on Wednesday. "There is no answer for why this disaster has befallen us," Pastor Gustav Piir told the congregation, which was much larger than usual.

Stormy weather postponed a robot search of the wreckage of the ferry Estonia, but murky sonar pictures appeared to show that the ship's cargo door was sheared off. More than 800 people died when the ferry sank Wednesday off the coast of Finland. High winds and waves prevented the deployment of two suitcase-size Sea Owl robots, which are equipped with three cameras and several mechanical arms. They would hover near the ferry and send pictures up to the surface for examination by investigators.

Two boats arrived here late Wednesday night carrying 32 survivors of a sunken Estonian passenger ferry who had been scooped from the swollen Baltic Sea. Their arrival at the chilly harbor-front terminal brought whimpers of relief from desperate relatives but also brought to a bittersweet close the most tragic day on the Baltic since World War II.

Hundreds of people were feared drowned early today when an Estonian passenger ferry with 867 people aboard sank off southwest Finland. "The number of victims will be many hundreds, I fear," Capt. Lt. Mikko Montonen at the Turku Sea Rescue Center told Reuters news service by telephone. One survivor said the ship listed and sank within five minutes. The sinking occurred sometime after midnight. Stormy seas and winds topping 56 m.p.h.