Estonia

Dad!

Dad!

What? - Dad, look!

What's there? - Look!

Next, Henri Peltonen will tell us a

little about this emergency buoy system.

Over to you, Henri. - Thank you.

An emergency buoy like this one rises to the surface as the ship sinks.

It emits a radio signal to pinpoint the ship's location.

There were similar buoys on the Estonia?

There were. This one is a prototype

but two weeks before the accident

the Estonia was equipped with similar devices.

In other words, the ship had brand new EPIRB buoys.

Absolutely.

But I've got to hang up now, they're talking about the EPIRB on TV.

I'll call you later.

Did the buoys indicate the ship's location?

As this surfaces, it sends a signal.

However, we haven't yet found out

why the Estonia's buoys failed to do so.

We've been trying to find the buoys

and now one of them was found off the Estonian coast.

Once we get to examine it

we can check what information it contains.

What information might that be?

Once we know

where the ship has been at particular times

we'll be able to study

the ship's movements, and speed, for example.

We'll be able to ascertain

whether the ship turned toward the waves

and whether it was sailing too fast for the weather.

Basically, we could say that these are the equivalent

to the black boxes in aeroplanes.

That's what an EPIRB buoy is.

Is this a long drive?

Eh, not really...

Less than an hour.

Can I come with you?

No need. Rather stay home

help mom or something.

I found it!

Could you bring it here

carefully, here in the middle

inside the paper.

Yes, very good.

Put it here, yes, like that.

Why is it even so important?

You remember Rainer, right?

And the Mägi family?

And Ivo Pärt?

Well...

their fathers were all on that ship.

This could help them

them and their families.

A bigger box makes it look so important.

Yeah, well...

they didn't know how big it was

so they made a bigger one, just in case.

Thank you, thank you again!

Will it help?

Every little thing will help the investigation.

My friends' and their families' wages

sank to the bottom of the sea with the ship.

They'd apparently been given the money

in brown envelopes before the departure.

Yes...

We need to start getting back, it's quite a long drive.

Yes...

I'll see what we can do about it.

That's all we are asking.

A little help.

Of course.

Thank you!

I'm speaking on the phone, girls.

Yeah, yeah!

Come!

Good morning!

For everyone who don't know me yet

my name is Gustav Keipp and I will be leading this investigation.

Here I have for you investigation report on the Estonia.

From there you can find all the current information

from Sweden, Finland and Estonia.

And what should we do with the Dutch deal?

Rainer, this is not important right

now. This here is an absolute priority.

The ship was built here.

Here by us, in 1980.

Then it was sold to Finland

and sailed under the name of Viking Sally

then as Silja Star and as Wasa King sailing the Baltic sea.

And from 1993 as Estonian-Swedish "Estline".

Where did we get the documents if I may ask?

We have a Finnish engineer who tries to prove

that the bow visor, I quote:

"One absolutely life-threatening construction."

The shipyard isn't going to put up with any accusations

thrown in our direction.

These reports should help you shoot down

any possible allegations coming our way as soon as possible.

The aim is to send them our response before the end of the day.

Now, it's recording.

It's October 2nd and it's...

10:25 a.m.

and this is the Estonia's radio operator...

Veiko Valner. - Veiko Valner.

And in what way was 27th September an unusual day?

We had an inspection on the ship that day.

Some guy...

from Sweden came to show us

how to do an inspection.

And did you participate in that?

Yes, but I joined them somewhere in the middle.

And...

I...

waited before I went to work so they could do their round.

I heard the Swedish guy making a phone call to Sweden.

I don't know any Swedish, but...

someone...

told me that they discussed

whether the ship would even be let out of the harbour.

That's why I didn't start my work right away.

I didn't know if we even were going to sail.

It won't take long, so wait here.

Alright.

What was the apartment number again? - Let me see.

Was it six?

Yes, number six.

Take it easy...

can you do it?

He says you can go now.

Alright, thank you.

Would you want something to drink? - No.

Hello!

Your wife told me

you'd fallen down the stairs at your own home.

Debt collectors.

They threatened me and my wife.

I survived the shipwreck...

But the stairs got me.

Maybe you got lucky there too.

Such things can end a lot worse.

This man's workplace is

80 metres deep at the bottom of the sea along with his wages.

I don't know about lucky.

Yes...

I'm, of course, sorry to disturb you this way, but...

I'm looking for answers and sometimes it's easier to do it

while meeting in person.

Or did you just come here to make things easier for yourself?

Yeah...

Oh, sorry...

Thank you!

Could you...

Could you tell me about those buoys

if and how they were inspected during the day of the departure?

They said it was "on-the-job-training"

although senior inspectors from Sweden took part of it

and also our ship's security master from Estonia, captain Mattias Vint.

They asked me to show them the buoys.

And then continued to inspect the ship.

Sorry, but for me it seemed strange why

just on that day the ship's condition

interested the senior inspectors from Sweden and Estonia so much.

But who...

Who told you that the ship was "unseaworthy"?

Who said that?

They called Sweden from the ship.

The Swedish inspector...

Backe.

He called the head of the maritime administration

and told him the Estonia wasn't seaworthy.

That the ship isn't...

it shouldn't be let to sail.

And I understood that they called everybody, including the ministers.

But the Swedes were the ones who let the ship leave the harbour.

And you know this how?

I'm just lying here.

We have all the time in the world to look back on things.

Yeah...

Coming back to the buoy, though that was your responsibility?

Nothing was any one person's...

But it's true, right?

Don't start with it again.

Let it be.

We've been trying to find

documentation on the installation of the buoys.

But we haven't found any.

Sorry, but I don't get it. The ship was deemed unseaworthy

and you people concentrate on some radio buoy

which had nothing to do with the accident, right?

And if you managed to keep the buoy here in Estonia

then we wouldn't deal with this nonsense here.

EPIRB

Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.

Can you get the data out of it?

Sure.

How long will it take?

Give us a couple days.