En route from Tallinn to Stockholm
With about 1,000 passengers and crew on board, the Baltic ferry, Estonia sank on September 28, 1994 (Langewiesche 101). The circumstances of the sinking could only be described as mysterious and is a subject of wonder among most researchers. There are a lot of speculations that fuel researchers to unravel the mystery and determine the exact cause of the fatal sinking. This essay aims at utilizing insight from The Outlaw Sea by William Langewiesche to gain perspective on the circumstances of the tragic sinking of the Estonia. The book presents different angles and approaches that is bound to make readers question their understanding of the 1994 sinking. Langewiesche consumes a third of the book discussing the sinking of Estonia, and other oceanic tragedies take up the rest of the book. Langewiesche writes that "What had just occurred was one of the worst maritime disasters in European history."
Thesis Statement
The Outlaw Sea by William Langewiesche provides insight and perspective that sheds light on some of the confusions surrounding the sinking of the Estonia
and the investigations that followed. The lessons from this book pertaining the matter will be explained herein and the success of the author in pointing out the lessons. However, even after the book, there remain confusions that the author cannot tame.
Body
The Mystery of the Ocean
The book starts by acknowledging the mysteriousness of the sea. The author expresses his views about the sea and the secrets it harbors. William Langewiesche also explains that oceans are in no way connected to single citizenship. They touch wherever they wish and are at no risk of being owned by governments in the way that land is. He also exhibits the ships that sail the oceans are the only bodies that understand and enjoy the extent of these freedoms. However, he states that the life that sailors lived I the past are vastly different from the kind that they live today. Most of their time is spent making deliveries all over the world with limited time on the shores. The sailing world today involves so many players, with those that call the shots almost anonymous (Langewiesche, 102).
People in countries that are completely landlocked manage ports in faraway countries, limiting their responsibilities concerning what happens at sea while making profits. These ships are also free to assume any nationalities and flags to serve their needs and those of their owners. These kinds of bureaucratic arrangements are one reason why ferries and ships like the Estonia sank. The nature of the kind of life sailors live provides that only they understand the dangers and issues they have to face every day at sea.
Delayed Action and Technical Issues
On the night that the ship went down, the crew experienced some turbulence at around ten pm but did not take them seriously. The storm on that night caused sea sickness among some passengers who went to their cabins, expecting the turbulence to stop after some time. However, after hours of turbulence and occasional calm, some of the passengers noticed the changes and seriousness of the storm and became alarmed (Langewiesche, 136). However, since no one was expecting the ship to give in to the storms and giant waves, any reported suspicions were taken lightly. According to the book, Linde, a passenger on the ferry tried to inform the hostess of suspected incoming trouble, but he never did talk to her. The serious impacts of the giant waves were already in action. Other passengers also expressed concern and even claimed that the ship had lost control and therefore succumbed to the turbulent waves (Langewiesche, 146). If the Estonian ferry crew had taken the initial turbulence and impacts seriously, maybe they would have called out a rescue team and saved the lives of the 852 people that died on that night.
Deliberate Effort
The media has always been a source of speculation when it comes to certain matters. The same was the case after the sinking of the Estonia. One of the theories that people held to explain the cause of the sinking is that the accident was an intentional effort to sever the ship (Langewiesche, 103). This belief was reinforced after the Swedish government refused any help to recover the wreckage and bodies of people from the Baltic Sea. The government promised to do the work itself rather than accept help but later announced that any efforts towards the same were curtailed. On page 111 of the Outlaw Sea, the design of the bow of the ship was questionable. All clues that pertained to that ship pointed to a fault in the design of the ferry and factors that the manufacturer ought to have noticed. Further investigation of the matter went nowhere as the Swedish government jeopardized the recovery efforts and attempted to have the wreckage covered in concrete. Although the Swedish government wanted to put an end to the matter, the processes created more doubt and suspicion. Langewiesche writes that, "... the process got too interesting then, and politics intruded".
Controversies in the Investigation
According to Langewiesche, the report of the investigation of the sinking of the Estonian ferry was controversial and therefore inaccurate. The report, as indicates on page 117 of the book claimed that the report was 'unanimous' on all points. Langewiesche argues that such a claim could not possibly be true. "Considering the complexities of the matter," (Langewiesche 117) and the different theories as to why the ship sank, such a statement insulted the intelligence of the stakeholders. This fact prompted a hire of an independent person who could not serve the interests of the family that controlled the shipyard, the Meyer family. The man hired was Peter Holtappels, who concluded that the ship was not faulty by design. He, however, pointed out that it was poorly maintained and handled.
The report he filed at the end of his mission contradicted the investigation and conclusion of the JAIC investigators. It also created confusion and doubt among the readers who accessed it from the internet. During his investigation and writing of the outlaw sea, Langewiesche interviewed people of interest and relatives of the survivors of the sinking to gain different perspectives of the events. They claimed that there was no way a shop like that would go down in a storm and held the belief that the fatal sinking was a cover-up and a deliberate act of sabotage (Langewiesche, 121).
Conclusion
Most of the contents of the outlaw sea concerning the Estonia are based on the stories of survivor passengers of the ship. As much as they are first-hand sources from those who suffered on that ferry, there are still too many gaps to fill and establish consistency. Information from such a tragic event might not be reliable as an investigation effort of what happened on the night that the ship sank. However, it is the contribution of several factors that led to the fatal accident that is still a significant event in the oceanic world of sailors and crews. The various theories that people received following the accident and years later will always leave questions concerning the events that were and promote further confusion over what happened. Langewiesche aimed at presenting different perspectives gathered from a consolidation of various researchers to tame the curiosity of most people over the sinking of the cruiser.
Work Cited
Langewiesche, William. The Outlaw Sea: Chaos and Crime on the World's Oceans. Granta, 2006.
