M/S Estonia Preliminary Assessment: Governments Informed about Possible Need of Underwater Surveys Deemed Necessary by Flag State

Un­der the lead of the Es­ton­ian Safety In­ves­ti­ga­tion Bu­reau (OJK), OJK and its Swedish (SHK) and Finnish (OTKES) coun­ter­parts have signed a Mem­o­ran­dum of Un­der­stand­ing (MoU) that de­scribes the work in progress con­cern­ing the pre­lim­i­nary as­sess­ment con­cern­ing M/​S Es­to­nia and the need for fur­ther mea­sures.

In February 1995, the governments of Estonia, Sweden and Finland agreed to protect M/S Estonia as a final place of rest for victims of the disaster from any disturbing activities

The international agreement has been implemented in national legislations in various ways. Additional States have ratified the international agreement as well.

Should underwater surveys be necessary in order to complete the preliminary assessment, the request to conduct them will come from the flag State.

The Authorities acknowledging that the legal situation currently prevents underwater operations in the vicinity of the vessel and have upon flag State Estonia’s decision informed their respective governments about the current situation. Any change of legislation or interpretation thereof would have to be done according to international rules and regulations.

Additional information:

Estonia (OJK): Executive Director Jens Haug, +372 6256314, jens.haug@ojk.ee

Sweden (SHK): Deputy Director General Jonas Bäckstrand, +46 8 508 862 82, jb@havkom.se

Finland (OTKES): Dr. Veli-Pekka Nurmi, Executive Director, +358 29 515 0701, veli-pekka.nurmi@om.fi