Today, Sweden remembers the fateful night of September 28, 1994, when the passenger ferry Estonia dragged 852 people into the depths.
“Today, 30 years have passed, but it still feels so close,” says King Carl XVI Gustaf at a memorial ceremony at Djurgården.
On Saturday, survivors, relatives and representatives from the government and the Riksdag gathered at the Galärvarvskyrkogården on a sunny Djurgården in Stockholm to remember the stormy night and the 30 years that have passed since the Estonia, on its way from Tallinn to Stockholm, sank.
137 passengers could be rescued from the water, but 852 people, of which 501 Swedes, lost their lives in the Baltic Sea.
Live in memory
Lennart Nord is master of ceremonies for Saturday’s gathering. He lost his mother in the disaster. Before the ceremony, he was looking forward to a nice day.
What is the significance of a day like this?
— Not to forget this tragic disaster. That it lives on in people’s memories, he says.
The public and relatives light candles and lay flowers at the Estonia monument after the ceremony.
The public and relatives light candles and lay flowers at the Estonia monument after the ceremony.
Photo: Stefan Jerrevång/TT
The king began his speech by quoting what is engraved on the Estonia monument, which contains the names of the people who died, in the cemetery. “Their names and fates we never want to forget.”
— It is so important that we remember. In honor of those who died, those who survived and all other relatives. To learn from the disaster so that something similar never happens again. We owe that to those who suffered when Estonia sank on September 28, 1994, he says.
Wreath laying
During the ceremony, the King and Queen Silvia laid wreaths at the monument as well as the Speaker of the Riksdag Andreas Norlén and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M).
In his speech, Norlén emphasized the importance of returnees gathering to “remember those who disappeared and think of you who remained”.
Thirty years is a long time in a person’s life. A long time to live on without a beloved family member or friend. A long time of missing, he said and returned repeatedly to various poems by Barbro Lindgren.
Kristersson in turn quoted Tomas Tranströmer’s poem “After someone’s death”.
It is with great humility and great respect for everyone’s pain that we gather here today, Kristersson said in his speech.
The invited guests to the memorial ceremony at Galärvarvskyrkogården in Stockholm. A few hundred listeners gathered behind them.
The invited guests to the memorial ceremony at Galärvarvskyrkogården in Stockholm. A few hundred listeners gathered behind them.
Photo: Stefan Jerrevång/TT