The ferry M/V Estonia sank in September 1994 with the loss of 852 Eves. The investigation and official report of the reasons for that sinking were prepared by an official agency in 1997. During various dives, two samples of metal were cut from a critical structural portion of the bow of the ferry M/V Estonia. Each sample consisted of a solid piece approximately 100 square centimeters. This article summarizes a series of various metallurgical studies conducted on the two specimens. The findings indicate that it is much more likely than not, that an explosion caused the appearance of characteristic signatures to be observed in these samples. However, the possibility of an explosion is not part of any official account of the sinking of the ship, and is not explained in any official documents. The official report stated that the bow visor became detached from the ship, and the loss of the visor was part of the reason it sank. The visor is a movable structure at the bow. When in place, it serves as a bulwark absorbing the force of waves. When retracted, it allows the deployment of the vehicle ramp from the ship to the dock. It was of critical importance to capture and record the condition of the steel at the point where the visor broke away from the hull. Therefore, divers removed two pieces that were part of the fracture face of a damaged visor location. These two samples have been the subject of at least four separate technical reports. This article includes a review of the prior investigative work on these samples, along with a report of additional verification examinations completed in 2007 by the authors.


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    Title :

    Failure analysis of the Estonia


    Additional title:

    Schadensanalyse der Estonia


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2009


    Size :

    5 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 6 Quellen



    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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