Interim report on expedition to MS Estonia ferry wreck to be made public Tuesday

TALLINN - Margus Kurm, former state prosecutor and head of the Mare Liberum foundation, an initiative of relatives of the victims of the 1994 disaster of the ferry Estonia, will introduce on Tuesday an interim report made on a privately initiated survey of the ferry wreck carried out in September.

A Maltese-flagged research vessel by the name of RS Sentinel set off from the Dutch port of Eemshaven on Sept. 18 and reached the shipwreck site in the morning of Sept. 22. A total of 43 people took part in the expedition, including 18 ship crew members and six media representatives. The rest were involved in the planning and execution of the underwater activities. Diving and survey work at the MS Estonia shipwreck site were concluded on Sept. 30.

SA Mare Liberum was founded in July this year upon an initiative of close relatives of victims of the disaster. Its objective is to determine the causes of the sinking of the ferry. Kurm is the head of the foundation and members of its supervisory board are Piret Kergandberg, Raivo Hellerma and Carl Eric Laantee Reintamm.