1994 Baltic ferry disaster: examination prompts new theory about sinking

Holes found in the Estonia's hull might mean ship had contact with sea bottom

Rock on the seabed may have gouged previously unknown holes in the hull of the ferry Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea in 1994 with the loss of 852 lives, officials said on Tuesday following a new examination of the wreck.

In 1997, an official investigation into Europe's worst peacetime maritime disaster since world war two concluded that the Estonia sank after a bow shield failed, damaging a bow ramp and causing the car deck to flood.