{"id":5223,"date":"2024-08-26T09:55:15","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T09:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meremuuseum.ee\/lennusadam\/?page_id=5223"},"modified":"2024-08-26T09:55:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T09:55:16","slug":"estonia-the-story-of-a-ship","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/meremuuseum.ee\/lennusadam\/en\/estonia-the-story-of-a-ship\/","title":{"rendered":"Estonia \u2013 the story of a ship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The ferry Estonia, which sailed under the Estonian flag starting from 1993, was the country\u2019s largest and most beautiful passenger ship. Sharing her name with the passenger steamer that sailed on the same route before World War II, the ferry Estonia symbolised freedom, progress, and Western values for Estonians, which were not available to many at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of the ship began in 1980, when the second largest ferry in the Baltic Sea left the shipyard of Meyer Werft in Papenburg and set sail on the Stockholm-Mariehamn-Turku route under the name Viking Sally. Later named Silja Star and Wasa King, she was a modern passenger ferry, featuring everything for a fun and entertaining stay. The exhibition also sheds light on the everyday life on board at the time. The commemorative exhibition of the Estonian Maritime Museum reveals the story of the ferry \u2013 her construction, different owners, furnishings, and everyday life \u2013 and places it in the wider context of the ferry traffic on the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The voyage of both the ferry and 852 passengers on board was cut short on the night of 28 September 1994. The loss of the Estonia is the most tragic peacetime maritime disaster in the Baltic Sea, and it remains a source of deep trauma in the souls of Estonians and Swedes to this day. The ship sank within just 30 minutes and only 137 of the 989 people on board survived.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n