The investigation, conducted by the  Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau (OJK) starts next week, with 3D laser scanning surveys to follow from May 22 and to last four to five days, depending on the weather.

OJK chief Rene Arikas said: "Investigations into the wreck of the ferry Estonia have reached the next stage, we will start with basic investigations."

The 3D scan will enable an accurate "twin" version of the ferry to be examined in detail, he said.

"During the initial assessment of the Estonia ferry, which began last summer, very thorough work was carried out, and the preparations have been made for basic research, such as 3D laser scanning of the wreck, photogrammetric and ferromagnetic research and various simulations of the ship's 'digital twin'," Arikas went on.

"In the course of the 3D laser scanning of the wreck, a 'point cloud' is created of the shipwreck and the land forms in its immediate vicinity, to obtain detailed information about the wreck and the surrounding topography," he added.

The scan is being performed with the use of a research vessel, the VOS Sweet, which sails under the flag of the Netherlands, while an international team of experts from Sweden, Germany and Poland, in addition to Estonia, has been assembled for the job.

Three investigators from the OJK are taking part.

Arikas said the 3D survey will be conducted in three states, first by examining the car deck levels, technically a complicated task due to all the details, while attempts will be made to ascertain whether engine-room hatches and other points of entry are in an open or closed attitude.

Three investigators from the OJK are taking part.

Arikas said the 3D survey will be conducted in three states, first by examining the car deck levels, technically a complicated task due to all the details, while attempts will be made to ascertain whether engine-room hatches and other points of entry are in an open or closed attitude.

The OJK held a public procurement process for the scanning tender, which was run by an Estonian-German consortium of ESC Risk Management OÜ and Baltic Taucherei- und Bergungsbetrieb Rostock Gmbh as main contractors, while the 3D laser scanning service is to be provided by Kraken Robotics.

The work follows a preliminary survey conducted by Arikas and the OJK last July, which concluded, among other things, that the vessel's starboard side has been significantly crushed.

While the official investigation found that a fault in the bow visor caused it to shear off in heavy seas, allowing water to enter the vehicle decks and compromise the Estonia's buoyancy, other theories have abounded since then, and these gained momentum following a 2020 documentary which aired on Swedish TV and which was based on underwater footage obtained in violation of the grave peace agreement which preserves the site.

The footage revealed large holes in the vessel's hull.

In the meantime, tech has also advanced in the 28 years since the MS Estonia disaster, while the wreck itself will have been subject to strains and stresses from currents and temperature changes, erosion, the action of gravel scattered over the wreck (one original plan had been to encase it in concrete), the activity of divers etc. during that time also.

Due to conditions, investigations can generally only take place in the summer months, though an unofficial investigation sponsored by daily Postimees continued into autumn last year.

The MS Estonia sank in the small hours of September 28, 1994 on a scheduled voyage from Tallinn to Stockholm and off the Finnish Turku archipelago.  852 people perished, 137 survived

The sinking is, in terms of loss of life, the second-largest peacetime maritime disaster involving a European vessel ever, after the Titanic.

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