The Sinking of the MS Estonia

The MS Estonia was a large cruise ferry that sank into the Baltic Sea on 28 September 1994.

The ship was carrying a total of 989 people and was travelling from Estonia to Sweden. How did this happen?

Well the Estonia was travelling through very bad and heavy weather and at 1AM there was a serious of large metallic bangs. It turned out that the waves that caused the front visor to detach and the cargo ramp to open. As a result water started to flow freely into the cargo hold which combined with poor cargo distribution caused the ship to roll to starboard side. Passengers were flung around the ship and many began to panic to reach the upper decks. The crew didn't even know that the front visor had detached because they couldn't see it and their systems show that everything was fine. By 1:50AM, the ship had rolled over completely and most people were trapped inside. The ship sank within an hour of taking on water.

By morning, many ships and helicopters came to the rescue which saw 137 survivors but at the cost of 852 victims.