01x04 - The Emergency Buoy

[bunniefuu]

Dad!

Dad!

What?
- Dad, look!

What's there?
- Look!

Next, Henri Peltonen will tell us a

little about this
emergency buoy system.

Over to you, Henri.
- Thank you.

An emergency buoy like this one rises
to the surface as the ship sinks.

It emits a radio signal to
pinpoint the ship's location.

There were similar
buoys on the Estonia?

There were.
This one is a prototype

but two weeks before the accident

the Estonia was equipped
with similar devices.

In other words, the ship had
brand new EPIRB buoys.

Absolutely.

But I've got to hang up now, they're
talking about the EPIRB on TV.

I'll call you later.

Did the buoys indicate
the ship's location?

As this surfaces, it sends a signal.

However, we haven't yet found out

why the Estonia's
buoys failed to do so.

We've been trying
to find the buoys

and now one of them was
found off the Estonian coast.

Once we get to examine it

we can check what
information it contains.

What information might that be?

Once we know

where the ship has
been at particular times

we'll be able to study

the ship's movements,
and speed, for example.

We'll be able to ascertain

whether the ship
turned toward the waves

and whether it was sailing
too fast for the weather.

Basically, we could say that
these are the equivalent

to the black boxes in aeroplanes.

That's what an EPIRB buoy is.

Is this a long drive?

Eh, not really...

Less than an hour.

Can I come with you?

No need.
Rather stay home

help mom or something.

I found it!

Could you bring it here

carefully, here in the middle

inside the paper.

Yes, very good.

Put it here, yes, like that.

Why is it even so important?

You remember Rainer, right?

And the Mägi family?

And Ivo Pärt?

Well...

their fathers were all on that ship.

This could help them

them and their families.

A bigger box makes
it look so important.

Yeah, well...

they didn't know how big it was

so they made a bigger one,
just in case.

Thank you, thank you again!

Will it help?

Every little thing
will help the investigation.

My friends' and
their families' wages

sank to the bottom of
the sea with the ship.

They'd apparently
been given the money

in brown envelopes
before the departure.

Yes...

We need to start getting back,
it's quite a long drive.

Yes...

I'll see what we can do about it.

That's all we are asking.

A little help.

Of course.

Thank you!

I'm speaking on the phone, girls.

Yeah, yeah!

Come!

Good morning!

For everyone who
don't know me yet

my name is Gustav Keipp and I
will be leading this investigation.

Here I have for you
investigation report on the Estonia.

From there you can find
all the current information

from Sweden,
Finland and Estonia.

And what should we do
with the Dutch deal?

Rainer, this is not important right

now. This here is
an absolute priority.

The ship was built here.

Here by us, in 1980.

Then it was sold to Finland

and sailed under the
name of Viking Sally

then as Silja Star and as
Wasa King sailing the Baltic sea.

And from 1993 as
Estonian-Swedish "Estline".

Where did we get
the documents if I may ask?

We have a Finnish engineer
who tries to prove

that the bow visor, I quote:

"One absolutely
life-threatening construction."

The shipyard isn't going to
put up with any accusations

thrown in our direction.

These reports should
help you sh**t down

any possible allegations
coming our way as soon as possible.

The aim is to send them our
response before the end of the day.

Now, it's recording.

It's October 2nd and it's...



and this is the Estonia's
radio operator...

Veiko Valner.
- Veiko Valner.

And in what way was 27th
September an unusual day?

We had an inspection
on the ship that day.

Some guy...

from Sweden came to show us

how to do an inspection.

And did you participate in that?

Yes, but I joined them
somewhere in the middle.

And...

I...

waited before I went to work
so they could do their round.

I heard the Swedish guy
making a phone call to Sweden.

I don't know any Swedish, but...

someone...

told me that they discussed

whether the ship would
even be let out of the harbour.

That's why I didn't
start my work right away.

I didn't know if we even
were going to sail.

It won't take long, so wait here.

Alright.

What was the apartment
number again? - Let me see.

Was it six?

Yes, number six.

Take it easy...

can you do it?

He says you can go now.

Alright, thank you.

Would you want
something to drink? - No.

Hello!

Your wife told me

you'd fallen down
the stairs at your own home.

Debt collectors.

They threatened me and my wife.

I survived the shipwreck...

But the stairs got me.

Maybe you got lucky there too.

Such things can end a lot worse.

This man's workplace is


of the sea along with his wages.

I don't know about lucky.

Yes...

I'm, of course, sorry to
disturb you this way, but...

I'm looking for answers and
sometimes it's easier to do it

while meeting in person.

Or did you just come here to
make things easier for yourself?

Yeah...

Oh, sorry...

Thank you!

Could you...

Could you tell me about those buoys

if and how they were inspected
during the day of the departure?

They said it was
"on-the-job-training"

although senior inspectors
from Sweden took part of it

and also our ship's security master
from Estonia, captain Mattias Vint.

They asked me to
show them the buoys.

And then continued
to inspect the ship.

Sorry, but for me it
seemed strange why

just on that day
the ship's condition

interested the senior inspectors
from Sweden and Estonia so much.

But who...

Who told you that
the ship was "unseaworthy"?

Who said that?

They called Sweden from the ship.

The Swedish inspector...

Backe.

He called the head of
the maritime administration

and told him the
Estonia wasn't seaworthy.

That the ship isn't...

it shouldn't be let to sail.

And I understood that they called
everybody, including the ministers.

But the Swedes were the ones
who let the ship leave the harbour.

And you know this how?

I'm just lying here.

We have all the time in the world
to look back on things.

Yeah...

Coming back to the buoy, though
that was your responsibility?

Nothing was any one person's...

But it's true, right?

Don't start with it again.

Let it be.

We've been trying to find

documentation on the
installation of the buoys.

But we haven't found any.

Sorry, but I don't get it.
The ship was deemed unseaworthy

and you people concentrate
on some radio buoy

which had nothing to do
with the accident, right?

And if you managed to keep
the buoy here in Estonia

then we wouldn't deal
with this nonsense here.

EPIRB

Emergency Position
Indicating Radio Beacon.

Can you get the data out of it?

Sure.

How long will it take?

Give us a couple days.

They started the inspection
at about nine in the morning.

Some of the men
were interested

about the wisor
"locks" and "seals" condition.

In any case, I was only
with them part of the time.

They wanted to show the
Swedish inspector the buoys.

And there I was with them.

And a week before
I had checked them

and everything
worked like it should've.

There must be some
kind of documentation

about the installment of the buoys.

Where is it?

I'm not the right person
to answer this question.

One of you took part of the
inspection, why don't you ask him?

I'm sure he could also answer the
questions about the ship's condition.

And why did they let
the ship sail that evening

even though it was known
that the sea conditions were rough.

You should ask Mattias Vint
about those things.

You can keep on telling
everyone that it was a training.

But you should well remember
in what condition the ship was.

Henri, come over here!

Great. Thank you.

Henri!

What I'd like to know is

whether we're going to react to
what we just heard over there?

Translate.

The Estonia departed
late so the Estonians

were forced to catch
up with other ships.

If the buoy can tell
us the time and place

and we know the
Estonia left 15 minutes late

we can calculate its speed.

That's one hypothesis.

That the ship was sailing too fast.

Basically, yes.

If we have both
pieces of information.

The departure and the end.

To find out if the
components contain anything

we need to open them all.

Shall we do that?

Go ahead.

Every piece of
information is a step forward.

Alright, bye.
- Bye.

Could you take Nina
to football practice tomorrow?

Sure.

How much longer will that take?

I got a fax from Germany
I need to read it through.

I was talking about this whole thing.

Rooste says one thing
and Claesson another.

Pasi hasn't said anything

about how long this will take.

I don't know.

You're going to have to
make this up to me.

Sounds good.

I quite agree.

You mind if I turn off the light?

Good night.
- Good night.

There are serious
issues with the wings.

Exactly.

The forward simply
isn't able to advance the ball.

Yeah, we'll chop some
wood at the cottage.

Listen, my apprentice is here.

You too, say hi to
your family for me.

Bye.

Did you see this?

That the Sirmer Werft shipyard

are setting up their own commission
to investigate the Estonia?

They're trying to prove
their own innocence.

They want to meet me.

You spoke in public
about the visor's defects.

I found four other cases
involving a bow visor defect.

Less severe ones, though.

They won't like that.

What do they want from me?

To prove their innocence, obviously.

And in a practical German manner

that's easiest done
by blaming someone else.

Can I refuse?

Do you think that's an option?

Ok.

Will you join us to the restaurant?

No, unfortunately
I don't have time.

It was very nice, see
you soon, Herman.

Bye. See you soon.

I heard what you've told
to the Swedish radio.

Appealing to the speed of the ship
this was smart, I have to admit.

But is this a valid claim?

What if it turns out that the Estonia
wasn't faster than other ships?

This is complex we
bring good arguments.

Which is?

The modifications made by the Finns.

And if they turn
out to be irrelevant?

Then we'll choose the next one.
The speed just supports the theory.

But, we also need plan B and
plan C and most likely plan D.

This is all part of the legal game.

We're trying to find
the modification documents

but they might have been
sent to Estonia, too.

If I know something,
it seems the Germans know it too.

How long has it been running?



Nothing yet.

Everything is working as it should.

Four hours will be enough.

If it keeps working
like it should until that...

I don't know.

They were never even turned on.

At all?

That's how it seems.

This here is a fully
functional device.

Maybe they failed to
activate it, somehow.

The crew members' average
age is around twenty...

Some of us had no previous
work experience.

We didn't have tools

to deal with something like this...

I'm glad that I have no children yet.

How would I...

How would I explain them
what happened to all these people?

Because of us?

Estonians dreamed
the whole Soviet time of a white ship

which would free them.

That was the ship.

That's why it was painted white.

That's why it says
"Estonia" on the side.

And now it's at the
bottom of the sea.

Excuse me.

You have a visitor.
She is waiting in the lobby.

How...

how can I help?

What is that?

I hope this helps.

Yes... Is this genuine?

This proves that the buoys were
installed correctly back then.

Well, yes.

It's just that I don't know
if that helps us.

You told me last time

that this is important information
for you and I really...

I hoped that this would help.

Yes, but now we know that
the buoys didn't work.

They were not turned on.

My husband, his...

That falling, it...

It wasn't an accident. He...

It's just that this all...

Everything is very hard right now.

Wait, did he...

Did he try to hurt himself?

Can you please just tell them
they were just buoys?

That they had nothing to do
with the accident.

Yes...

I'll see.

I'll see what we can do.

Thank you.

This is f*cking unbelievable.

Shouldn't they be on automatically?
- Absolutely, they should have been.

f*cking hell.

For Christ's sake. Okay.

Do you know why the emergency
buoys weren't turned on?

Actually, the buoys didn't
play a significant role

in the accident itself or
the rescue operation.

The Estonia's Mayday call
reached eleven listeners.

Even if there were delays in Turku
the call was heard by so many

the rescue operation
started immediately.

We studied the Estonia's speed
during the last 45 minutes.

We came to the conclusion
that it was going 16.7 miles an hour.

This is very dangerous speed. We have
to take into consideration, however

that we have no definitive
proof of the speed

since the Estonian crew
never turned the buoys on.

According to a German report

Finland should bear
the main responsibility.

What's your comment?

Well, if the lock of the
bow visor was too weak

it's the responsibility of
the Finnish Maritime Administration.

So, in that sense, the
Germans are actually correct.

You are not at all responsible, then?

We don't think so, no.

Could you comment
on the modifications

made to the bow visor by Finland?

We haven't completed
the investigation yet.

Although many of
the claims that people

here have put forward are correct

the investigation still continues
and remains open.

Could you nonetheless
be more specific

about how the
investigation continues?

As I said, we're moving
forward as planned.

We'll investigate everything that
hasn't been investigated yet

and take into account
any new elements.

We'll let you know as soon as
we find something important.

You need to be patient.

Thank you.

What shall we do if
Rooste actually resigns?

We'll carry on.

I somehow feel he has a point.

This is often about something else
altogether than the investigation.

On the contrary.

Accident investigations
are always also about

everything you'd never
expect them to be about.

I'm a little cold.

I think I'll go to the cottage, chop
some wood and heat the sauna.

Are you staying here?
- We're going to carry on?

How?

Well...

I think that's for
the investigators to figure out.

And what was it I'm paying you to do?

Remind me.