“The SHK organized an international public procurement in order to find a suitable company to lift the ramp. The safety investigation authorities of the three countries continue to plan and prepare underwater surveys as a next step. Estonia, as a flag State, is the lead country for the surveys, as was agreed in 2020, when we started the preliminary assessment," says Märt Ots, Director of OJK.
"We have decided to lift the bow ramp* of MV Estonia from the sea bottom and film the car deck," says Jonas Bäckstrand, Deputy Director General of SHK. "The 2021 surveys indicated that the bow ramp is no longer attached to the ship's hull. We have thus decided to lift the ramp for a more thorough examination."
The Swedish government has allocated 25 million Swedish crowns (2.2 million euros) for the implementation of the activities. “We have decided to award the contract to the Norwegian company Reach Subsea AS. The surveys will be carried out from the ship Viking Reach”, states Bäckstrand. “The exact time of conducting the works will be decided upon later this spring.”
The representatives of the three countries agreed that the ramp will be transported to Estonia, where it will be further examined.
Ongoing tasks include calculating the impact of the seabed to the ship. This is carried out by Taltech and should be completed by the end of August 2023. Interviews with survivors of the accident continue to be conducted. A procurement for modeling the bow of the ship is being prepared and is financed by Estonia.
*The bow ramp is the access way for vehicles to a ship. The bow visor of the ferry Estonia was lifted from the seabed in 1994 and is located in Sweden.
