Calls for new probe into Estonia ferry sinking

Estonian politicians today demanded a new investigation into the 1994 sinking of the Ferry Estonia, after Sweden acknowledged the vessel had been used to transport abandoned Soviet military equipment from the Baltics.

Evelyn Sepp, a spokeswoman for the main opposition Centre Party, said a new inquiry was needed to eliminate rumours about the disaster on September 28, 1994, that left 852 people dead.

Swedish military and customs officials said last week that the ferry, which sank in heavy seas and a fierce storm on its way to Stockholm from Tallinn, had been used to carry military equipment to Sweden in the weeks before it went down.

Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson called for new investigations into what cargo was being transported aboard the Estonia. The Estonian government said no other investigation would be required, but the opposition disagreed.

“We have been very disappointed in regard to how the government has handled the Estonia issue,” Sepp said, adding that a new inquiry could bring fresh light to the case.

In a 230-page report released in 1997, an official commission of Estonian, Finnish and Swedish experts blamed faulty bow door locks, the intensity of the storm and human error for the sinking.

A decision to launch an Estonian investigation would have to be decided by parliamentary committee, and “would take some time,” said spokesman Gunner Paal for the Riigikogu, or parliament.

New information on the case was expected next week, he said, without elaborating.