OREANDA-NEWS German media reports that Russia may use the Estonia ferry that sank in the Baltic Sea for exercises and "underwater espionage" against NATO have not been confirmed by the Estonian authorities. This is reported by ERR with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic.

The ministry said that Estonia is monitoring what is happening in the Baltic Sea and the area where the ferry sank is "one of the most controlled places." The agency's sources added that there is a ban on diving and stopping ships in the area, and the place is located in Finland's area of responsibility.

Tauri Roosipu, senior investigator at the Estonian Safety Incident Investigation Bureau, said that the agency's specialists examined the Estonia ferry crash site six times from 2021 to 2024 and found no suspicious devices. He added that this area is located far from the wreckage of the ship, so it would be ineffective to collect any data there.

Earlier, the Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that Russia allegedly uses the sunken ship Estonia as a training ground for underwater operations and, possibly, as a shelter for espionage technologies. According to reports, a number of NATO member states have information that just a few years ago, technical equipment was located at the wreck site of the sunken ferry, providing high-precision navigation of underwater drones and robots. Western intelligence agencies suggest that Russian military units conducted similar exercises there.

The ferry Estonia sank on the night of September 28, 1994 during a storm in the Baltic Sea en route from Tallinn to Stockholm.