MS Estonia
Photo: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
In the early hours of 28 September 1994, Europe's deadliest peacetime shipwreck took place when the passenger ferry MS Estonia sunk in the northern Baltic Sea on a journey from Tallinn to Stockholm. Out of the 989 people on board, 852 perished and 137 survived. A kind of a modern-day Titanic, it has spun off documentaries, memorials, conspiracy theories as well as much shock and sorrow for the people involved, friends and family and the general public in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
Unlike the Titanic the ship carried lifeboats and rafts that could fit twice the amount of passengers that were on board that night, MS Estonia wasn't on its maiden voyage but had a track record of 14 years of sailing in the northern Baltic, both nearest land and other ships were much closer, and modern communication and radar technology was available. However, the events unfolded much quicker and in much worse weather conditions, and as such the odds of survival were worse for the passengers onboard the Estonia.
UnderstandAs Northern Europe is split into parts by the Baltic Sea, ships, boats and ferries have been a natural way of moving people and goods since the Viking Age and beyond.
Get inAll countries are part of the EU and Schengen area, so administratively, if you've entered one of the countries you can visit all of them. However, your travel documents may be checked in the ports.
DestinationsMeyer Werft in Papenburg was founded in 1795 and is one of the world's largest shipyards. This is where the ship was built as Viking Sally in 1979–1980.
Stay safeOverall cruiseferries are a safe mode of travel, thousands of people travel on them every day in the northern Baltic Sea throughout the year.
LegacyWhile this disaster isn't the topic of nearly as many books and movies as the Titanic, there are some movies and series featuring the shipwreck, several more documentaries and interviews of different kinds, many of…
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Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "MS Estonia" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons