In January 1993, at the same time when EffJohn decided to merge Wasa Line's operations into Silja Line, Wasa King was sold to Nordström & Thulin for use on EstLine's Tallinn—Stockholm traffic under the name Estonia. The actual ownership of the ship was rather complex, in order for Nordstöm & Thulin to get a loan to buy the ship. Although Nordström & Thulin were the company who bought the ship, her registered owners were Estline Marine Co Ltd, Nicosia, Cyprus, who chartered the ship to E.Liini A/S, Tallinn, Estonia (daughter company of Nordström & Thulin and ESCO) who in turn chartered the ship to EstLine Ab. As a result the ship was actually registered in both Cyprus and Estonia.
As the largest Estonian-owned ship of the time, the Estonia symbolized the independence that Estonia gained after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Sinking
One of Estonia's inflatable life rafts, filled with water.
The Estonia disaster occurred on Wednesday, 28 September 1994, between about 00:55 to 01:50 (UTC+2) as the ship was crossing the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm. The Estonia was on a scheduled crossing with departure at 19:00 in the evening on September 27. It had been expected in Stockholm the next morning at about 09:30. She was carrying 989 people: 803 passengers and 186 crew. Most of the passengers were Scandinavian, while most of the crew members were Estonian. Avo Piht, a sea captain on the vessel as a passenger, was first said to have survived but his name was later struck from the list of survivors. The ship was fully loaded, and was listing slightly to port because of poor cargo distribution.
According to the final disaster report the weather was rough, with a wind of 15 to 20 metres per second (Template:Convert/kn km/h mph), force 7–8 on the Beaufort scale and a significant wave height of 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13 ft). compared with the highest measured significant wave height in the Baltic Sea of 7.7 metres (25.3 ft). Esa Mäkelä, the captain of MS Silja Europa who was appointed on scene commander for the subsequent rescue effort, described the weather as "normally bad", or like a typical autumn storm in the Baltic Sea. All scheduled passenger ferries were at sea. The official report says that while the exact speed at the time of the accident is not known, Estonia had very regular voyage times, averaging 16 to 17 knots (30 to 31 km/h; 18 to 20 mph), perhaps implying she did not slow down for adverse conditions. The chief mate of the Viking Line cruiseferry MS Mariella tracked Estonia's speed by radar at approximately 14.2 knots (26.3 km/h; 16.3 mph) before the first signs of distress, while the Silja Europa's officers estimated her speed at 14 to 15 knots (26 to 28 km/h; 16 to 17 mph) at midnight.
The first sign of trouble onboard the Estonia was a metallic bang caused by a heavy wave hitting the bow doors around 01:00, when the ship was on the outskirts of the Turku archipelago, but an inspection—limited to checking the indicator lights for the ramp and visor—showed no problems. Over the next 10 minutes, similar noises were reported by passengers and other crew. At about 01:15, the visor separated and the ship took on a heavy starboard list (initial 30 to 40 degrees, but by 01:30, the ship had rolled 90 degrees) as water flooded into the vehicle deck. Estonia was turned to port and slowed before her four engines cut out completely.
At about 01:20 a weak female voice called "Häire, häire, laeval on häire", Estonian for "Alarm, alarm, there is alarm on the ship", over the public address system, which was followed immediately by an internal alarm for the crew, then shortly later by the general lifeboat alarm. The vessel's list and the flooding prevented people in the cabins from ascending to the deck; only those on the upper decks were able to escape. A Mayday was communicated by the ship's crew at 01:22, but did not follow international formats. Estonia directed a call to Silja Europa and only after making contact with her the radio operator uttered the word "Mayday". In English, the radio operator on Silja Europa replied: "Estonia, are you calling mayday?" After that, another voice took over on Estonia and the conversation shifted to Finnish. The Estonia crew member was able to provide some details about their situation but due to loss of power, he could not give their position, which delayed rescue operations somewhat. The ship disappeared from the radar screens of other ships at around 01:50, and sank at 59°23′N 21°42′E / 59.383°N 21.7°E, about 22 nautical miles (41 km; 25 mi) on bearing 157° from Utö island, Finland, in 74 to 85 metres (243 to 279 ft) of water.
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