Sinking of the MS Estonia

Sinking of the MS Estonia
One of Estonia's inflatable life rafts, filled with water
Date28 September 1994 (1994-09-28)
Time00:50–01:50 (UTC+2)
Duration1 hour
LocationBaltic Sea
Coordinates59°23′N 21°41′E / 59.383°N 21.683°E / 59.383; 21.683
TypeMaritime disaster
Participants989; 137 survivors
Deaths852

MS Estonia sank on Wednesday, 28 September 1994, between about 00:50 and 01:50 (UTC+2) as the ship was crossing the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden. The sinking was one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century.[1][2] It is one of the deadliest peacetime sinkings of a European ship, after the Titanic in 1912 and the Empress of Ireland in 1914, and the deadliest peacetime shipwreck to have occurred in European waters, with 852 (out of 989) lives stated at the time as officially lost (subsequent passenger list analysis suggest a likely higher figure, see the Sinking section below).[3]

  1. ^ Soomer, H.; Ranta, H.; Penttilä, A. (2001). "Identification of victims from the M/S Estonia". International Journal of Legal Medicine. 114 (4–5): 259–262. doi:10.1007/s004140000180. PMID 11355406. S2CID 38587050.
  2. ^ Boesten, E. (2006): The M/S Estonia Disaster and the Treatment of Human Remains. In: Bierens, J.J.L.M. (ed.): Handbook on Drowning: 650–652. ISBN 978-3-540-43973-8.
  3. ^ "Estonia shipwreck investigator and nautical linguist Captain Uno Laur dies". ERR. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2019.

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