The subsequent Estonia Agreement 1995 sought to prevent any exploration of the wreck, which lies in international waters. The agreement was signed by Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Denmark, Russia and, strangely, Britain, which has no obvious connection to the Baltic. One Briton, John Manning, died in the disaster; a second, Paul Barney of Pangbourne, Berkshire, survived after swimming to an upturned raft and clinging on in stormy seas until he was rescued.

Other non-Baltic countries with passengers on the ferry did not become signatories to the treaty. Two requests under the Freedom of Information Act to the Foreign Office in London, for background and briefing papers on why Britain signed the treaty, have produced no reply.

What caused the secrecy about the disaster and why was Britain so closely involved?

The government wants to classify secret information regarding their internal communication the days after the tsunami catastrophe 2004 for seventy years.

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According to the daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet the government also wants to change the constitution so the Principle of public access to official records shall not apply on backup copies. The original information is is deleted.

The contentious tapes detailing data traffic from the government offices in connection with the 2004 Asian tsunami are set to be classified for 70 years

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The government has also proposed amending the constitution to ensure that the principle of public access to official records (offentlighetsprincipen) does not apply to the back up copies

Hirschfeldt reported the transported equipment was not explosive and remarked that military defense transfers and intelligence activities are state secret by law; in fact it was illegal for people in the know to discuss covert activities and added all documents relating to transportation of defense material and intelligence activities had been destroyed 10 years ago as per regulations. Even he was not at liberty to discuss what he had learned and furthermore any existing information relating to these matters had to remain classified for 70 years.

The wreckage of the passenger ferry Estonia will be investigated again. The Estonia case will be taken up in a French court.

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France has not sign the international treaty saying that Estonia is a mass grave and should be protected and untouched. The court can thereby demand a new examination of the ship.

Originally posted by Hellmutt
reply to post by v01i0

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I don't believe that's been mentioned. Thanks for adding it. Very interesting, if it's true.

Ennen lähtöään viimeiselle matkalle laivaan oli viety rahtia, jolla oli yhdysvaltalainen sotilassaattue.