Original subtitles

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.

They started the inspection at about nine in the morning.

Some of the men were interested

about the wisor "locks" and "seals" condition.

In any case, I was only with them part of the time.

They wanted to show the Swedish inspector the buoys.

And there I was with them.

And a week before I had checked them

and everything worked like it should've.

There must be some kind of documentation

about the installment of the buoys.

Where is it?

I'm not the right person to answer this question.

One of you took part of the inspection, why don't you ask him?

I'm sure he could also answer the questions about the ship's condition.

And why did they let the ship sail that evening

even though it was known that the sea conditions were rough.

You should ask Mattias Vint about those things.

You can keep on telling everyone that it was a training.

But you should well remember in what condition the ship was.

Henri, come over here!

Great. Thank you.

Henri!

What I'd like to know is

whether we're going to react to what we just heard over there?

Translate.

The Estonia departed late so the Estonians

were forced to catch up with other ships.

If the buoy can tell us the time and place

and we know the Estonia left 15 minutes late

we can calculate its speed.

That's one hypothesis.

That the ship was sailing too fast.

Basically, yes.

If we have both pieces of information.

The departure and the end.

To find out if the components contain anything

we need to open them all.

Shall we do that?

Go ahead.

Every piece of information is a step forward.

Alright, bye. - Bye.

Could you take Nina to football practice tomorrow?

Sure.

How much longer will that take?

I got a fax from Germany I need to read it through.

I was talking about this whole thing.

Rooste says one thing and Claesson another.

Pasi hasn't said anything

about how long this will take.

I don't know.

You're going to have to make this up to me.

Sounds good.

I quite agree.

You mind if I turn off the light?

Good night. - Good night.

There are serious issues with the wings.

Exactly.

The forward simply isn't able to advance the ball.

Yeah, we'll chop some wood at the cottage.

Listen, my apprentice is here.

You too, say hi to your family for me.

Bye.

Did you see this?

That the Sirmer Werft shipyard

are setting up their own commission to investigate the Estonia?

They're trying to prove their own innocence.

They want to meet me.

You spoke in public about the visor's defects.

I found four other cases involving a bow visor defect.

Less severe ones, though.

They won't like that.

What do they want from me?

To prove their innocence, obviously.

And in a practical German manner

that's easiest done by blaming someone else.

Can I refuse?

Do you think that's an option?

Ok.

Will you join us to the restaurant?

No, unfortunately I don't have time.

It was very nice, see you soon, Herman.

Bye. See you soon.

I heard what you've told to the Swedish radio.

Appealing to the speed of the ship this was smart, I have to admit.

But is this a valid claim?

What if it turns out that the Estonia wasn't faster than other ships?

This is complex we bring good arguments.

Which is?

The modifications made by the Finns.

And if they turn out to be irrelevant?

Then we'll choose the next one. The speed just supports the theory.

But, we also need plan B and plan C and most likely plan D.

This is all part of the legal game.

We're trying to find the modification documents

but they might have been sent to Estonia, too.

If I know something, it seems the Germans know it too.

How long has it been running?

3.5 hours.

Nothing yet.

Everything is working as it should.

Four hours will be enough.

If it keeps working like it should until that...

I don't know.

They were never even turned on.

At all?

That's how it seems.

This here is a fully functional device.

Maybe they failed to activate it, somehow.

The crew members' average age is around twenty...

Some of us had no previous work experience.

We didn't have tools

to deal with something like this...

I'm glad that I have no children yet.

How would I...

How would I explain them what happened to all these people?

Because of us?

Estonians dreamed the whole Soviet time of a white ship

which would free them.

That was the ship.

That's why it was painted white.

That's why it says "Estonia" on the side.

And now it's at the bottom of the sea.

Excuse me.

You have a visitor. She is waiting in the lobby.

How...

how can I help?

What is that?

I hope this helps.

Yes... Is this genuine?

This proves that the buoys were installed correctly back then.

Well, yes.

It's just that I don't know if that helps us.

You told me last time

that this is important information for you and I really...

I hoped that this would help.

Yes, but now we know that the buoys didn't work.

They were not turned on.

My husband, his...

That falling, it...

It wasn't an accident. He...

It's just that this all...

Everything is very hard right now.

Wait, did he...

Did he try to hurt himself?

Can you please just tell them they were just buoys?

That they had nothing to do with the accident.

Yes...

I'll see.

I'll see what we can do.

Thank you.

This is fucking unbelievable.

Shouldn't they be on automatically? - Absolutely, they should have been.

Fucking hell.

For Christ's sake. Okay.

Do you know why the emergency buoys weren't turned on?

Actually, the buoys didn't play a significant role

in the accident itself or the rescue operation.

The Estonia's Mayday call reached eleven listeners.

Even if there were delays in Turku the call was heard by so many

the rescue operation started immediately.

We studied the Estonia's speed during the last 45 minutes.

We came to the conclusion that it was going 16.7 miles an hour.

This is very dangerous speed. We have to take into consideration, however

that we have no definitive proof of the speed

since the Estonian crew never turned the buoys on.

According to a German report

Finland should bear the main responsibility.

What's your comment?

Well, if the lock of the bow visor was too weak

it's the responsibility of the Finnish Maritime Administration.

So, in that sense, the Germans are actually correct.

You are not at all responsible, then?

We don't think so, no.

Could you comment on the modifications

made to the bow visor by Finland?

We haven't completed the investigation yet.

Although many of the claims that people

here have put forward are correct

the investigation still continues and remains open.

Could you nonetheless be more specific

about how the investigation continues?

As I said, we're moving forward as planned.

We'll investigate everything that hasn't been investigated yet

and take into account any new elements.

We'll let you know as soon as we find something important.

You need to be patient.

Thank you.

What shall we do if Rooste actually resigns?

We'll carry on.

I somehow feel he has a point.

This is often about something else altogether than the investigation.

On the contrary.

Accident investigations are always also about

everything you'd never expect them to be about.

I'm a little cold.

I think I'll go to the cottage, chop some wood and heat the sauna.

Are you staying here? - We're going to carry on?

How?

Well...

I think that's for the investigators to figure out.

And what was it I'm paying you to do?

Remind me.