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The 'Finnmerchant', now sailing as 'Jabal Ali 9', was identified by the Swedish Accident Investigation Board as one of the ships, besides the ferry 'Finnjet' (IMO: 7359632), that were included in the International Investigation Commission's report from 1997 on the position of various ships in the area in connection with the sinking of the ferry 'Estonia' (IMO: 7921033) on Dec 8, 1994, and were stated to be unknown. The two merchant ships had also participated in the rescue operation. It appeared to be an administrative error by the old commission, says Jonas Bäckstrand at a press conference onm Aug 20, 2025, in which the Board presented the results of three investigations into the sinking of the 'Estonia'. The investigations have been carried out in parallel with the work of completing the final report, which is expected in December. One of the investigations concerned a classified document from the Swedish Maritime Administration with alternative explanations for the sinking of the 'Estonia', including mention of an explosion or collision. According to Jörgen Zachau, this has probably been important for the many conspiracy theories that have flourished regarding the sinking. Now the authority has concluded that it is a forgery. The document, which was submitted to the authority in its entirety by a journalist this spring, has not, for example, been archived or registered with the Swedish Maritime Administration and does not match the authority's template. In addition, the secret stamp does not look authentic. It appears to be computer-generated and not stamped. The conclusion is that it is fake, said the chairman of the investigation, Jonas Bäckstrand. The third review concerned the circumstances surrounding an exercise in port state control that took place on the 'Estonia' the day before the sinking, and the minutes from there. The protocols exist in different versions, which has given rise to speculation, but now the investigation believes it has been able to trace all versions back to the original. The exercise has been discussed following statements that attempts were made by Swedish inspectors to prevent the ship from departing due to serious deficiencies. However, based on testimony and the extent of the deficiencies, no such attempts were made, according to the Swedish Accident Investigation Board. A final report from the Swedish Accident Investigation Board is expected before the end of the year. The results of the reviews now being presented will not be included in the final report because they are not considered relevant. Report with photos: https://www.dn.se/sverige/haverikommissionen-forsoker-sla-hal-pa-konspirationsteorier-om-estonia/

On the afternoon of March 11, 2025, the 'Donald M. James' was towed from Bremen to Bremerhaven by the tugs 'VB Pioneer' (IMO: 9190614) and 'Fairplay 31' (IMO: 9416575) without its rudder. The damage had occurred when the ship's stern got stuck on the oppsite embankment of the Weser at Hasenbüren while casting off from the Steel Works Bremen in the Weserport on Feb 17, damaging the steering gear. It had arrived on Feb 16, en route from Narvik. On March 12 the ship was docked at the Lloyd Yard in Bremerhaven for inspections of the damage. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y14nlma8rEo

The Georgian captain Davit Vadatchkoria of the 'Eagle S' for the first time he has given his version of events on board the tanker after Estlink 2, an important power cable between Finland and Estonia, had stopped working. When the ship was boarded, Davit Vadachkoria says he did not know about the cable breaks. Earlier in the evening, the Border Guard vessel 'Turva' had approached the 'Eagle S' outside Porkala, made contact and reported that the anchor chain was out. Vadatchkoria then decided to stop his vessel and haul up the anchor. Then he noticed that it was gone, describing it as one of the worst things he had experienced during his career as a tanker captain. He asked the commander of the 'Turva' for permission to continue the route westward, towards the Danish Strait and on to Egypt, which was the destination for the unleaded gasoline and diesel oil in the cargo. According to Davit Vadatchkoria, the 'Turva's commander refused to budge, who wanted to continue talking and repeated that the 'Eagle S' should steer into Finnish waters to anchor. Vadatchkoria knew that he was in international waters, and that Finnish authorities only had limited rights to command merchant ships out there. He chose to follow the order anyway. At the new anchorage, he had expected port authorities and insurance representatives to board the 'Eagle S' calmly and safely with the help of the 'Turva's inflatable boats. Instead he received orders to gather the entire crew except for the three highest officers in the mess. Then the tanker was boarded with helicopters, and the boarding team confiscated electronic equipment such as computers, cameras and phones.According to the captain, they had spent two nights sleeping on the floor of the mess. During that time, each crew member was questioned. After that, one crew member needed psychological support, and another was taken to hospital for treatment of a blood clot. A few days later, the ship was ordered into Sköldvik outside Porvoo to undergo a port state inspection. After initially refusing, Davit Vadatchkoria claimed that he was forced to comply with the authorities' demands at gunpoint, otherwise he would have been arrested, and then he would have completely lost control of the ship and the crew. By this point, it was clear that the 'Eagle S' was singled out as the ship that had not only severed an electrical cable but also four communication cables, and a total of eight people on board were suspected of crimes. Suspicions remain against three officers, Captain Davit Vadatchkoria and the first and second mates. Indictments have been brought and the trial will begin in the Helsinki District Court on Aug 25. The three are suspected of aggravated sabotage and aggravated disruption of postal and telecommunications traffic. The indictment contains alternative crime categories that are milder, such as aggravated damage and causing public danger. Jukka Rappe, Deputy Prosecutor General, believes that the actions were intentional. Jukka Rappe brought charges last week and the next step is the trial, which is expected to take a couple of weeks. Jukka Rappe has said that there is not necessarily any conspiracy behind it, which can be interpreted as the fact that no money transfers from the Kremlin have been found and no conversation that proves that the 'Eagle S' had a secret mission to tear up cables in order to destabilize the Nordic countries. Together with his lawyers, Davit Vadatchkoria has gone through the entire preliminary investigation on hundreds of pages. Captain Davit Vadatchkoria believes that it was an accident and that a detailed technical and structural investigation would now be required. He also points out that the severe weather exposed the ship to extra stress. The question whether the crew should have discovered that the anchor had gone out and dragged the ship for 90 kilometers, was answered with yes by prosecutor Jukka Rappe and no by captain Davit Vadatchkoria, who claimed that he could prove that there were no heeling movements or course changes that would have caused an alarm from the autopilot, nor were any increasing vibrations, impacts or bouncing movements noticed that would have indicated that the anchor had been dragged. No abnormal noises from scraping chain or smoke were detected from the anchor windlass. According to Vadatchkoria, there were no visible dents or distortions and no traces of soot, which would usually be the case when the anchor has been lowered uncontrolled. Eagle S lost a couple of knots of speed just before 12.26 on Christmas Day when the electric cable broke. This could be explained by the anchor starting to drag at that time. But according to Davit Vadatchkoria, the change in speed was not something they reacted to. The wind had picked up, the wave height increased and other nearby ships also lost speed. Davit Vadatchkoria and the two other suspects have been held in Finland with a travel ban. They have been living in Helsinki since. Report with photos: https://yle.fi/a/7-10082866

Investigations of the 'Nordstjernen' showed that a minor technical problem had aused the stern to touch the pier. A diver was deployed on the evening of Aug 19 and discovered no structural damage to the ship. There were only a few scratches on the hull. The technical cause of the incident was found and remedied. The classification society boarded the ship on the morning of Aug 20, checked its technical condition, and finally released the ship shortly after noon. On the early afternoon, the 'Nordstjernen' left Rostock, one day late en route to Skagen with an ETA as of Aug 21. The Nordstjernen had to shift to the port of Rostock during the night because its berth in Warnemünde was needed with the cruise ships 'AIDAmar', 'Viking Sky' and 'Rotterdam' approaching.

The 'Donald M. James', which had been drydocked at the Lloyd Yard in Bremerhaven since March 11, following its rudder loss, has left the port after damage inspections on Aug 19. No repair contract was completed, and now the ship was being towed by the offshore tug 'Abeille Horizon' (IMO: 9178410) to Setubal with status NUC and an ETA as of Sep 6 for permanent repairs.