Submarine explores the sunken Estonia as death toll rises to 900. Rescue turns to grim recovery.

in the hull of the submerged Baltic Sea ferry Estonia was under way

yesterday, amid fears of a growing toll, with more than 900 dead.

As questions mounted over the cause, with faulty seals and shifting

cargo among the theories, a Swedish unmanned submarine was exploring the

sunken ferry. Analysis of its photographs should be completed today.

If the hull is upside down divers, breathing helium to counter the

effects of working at depths of 80 metres, would face a hard task

getting inside the vessel, making the possibility of full salvage more

remote.

The Dutch company Wijsmuller Salvage said it had been asked by the

Estonian Government to plan how to recover bodies trapped in the hull.

Company officials said an attempt to raise the vessel itself was not

yet being considered. ''The first priority is to get the bodies back,''

said company spokeswoman Eldine Habig.

Latest estimates put the number of dead at 909, with 65 bodies

recovered. The ferry was carrying 1051 passengers and crew, several

dozen more than previously reported, although there appeared to be some

confusion last night in Tallinn over exact numbers.

Estonian Home Affairs Minister, Mr Haiki Arike, a member of the

government's crisis commission set up to deal with the disaster,

addressed a news conference, and was asked to explain how the numbers

could have increased by almost 200 since those first released.

Mr Arike said many people had been travelling on tickets issued under

different names and that children under five had not at first been

included, since they were not registered as passengers in their own

right. He promised that the commission would ''investigate very

seriously'' the Estonian ferry company Estline's failure to keep an

accurate record of passengers.

Mr Arike refused to comment on reports from survivors that there had

been the sound of an explosion or collision shortly before the vessel

sank.

The Estonia was en route from Tallinn in Estonia to Stockholm when it

went down in a matter of minutes in the early hours of Wednesday.

A spokesman for another salvage company, Smit Tak, the world's

largest, said no one had ever tried to raise a ship as big as the

15,500-tonne Estonia from such a depth.

Meanwhile, the head of the company which operated the Estonia said he

did not believe a fault in the bow door or shifting cargo could have

caused the ferry to sink.

Survivors have spoken of the vessel lurching over on to its side with

sea water swilling about the car deck. Mr Johannes Johanson, managing

director of Estline, said it was impossible to say anything definite.

He added, however: ''I am sure that the bow door of the ship could not

be the cause of the accident.''

Early reports about the fate of the Estonia near the island of Uto off

south-west Finland

had focused on the ship's bow door and a possible movement of trucks

and cargo.

Of the cargo, Mr Johanson said: ''It is possible it could move but it

also could not be the cause of this kind of accident, that this big ship

could go down in five to 10 minutes.'' He said a shift in the cargo and

trucks could cause the ship to list 30-40 degrees but not turn on its

side.

However, a member of the official panel investigating the disaster

said interviews with survivors could support the theory that water

entered the bow doors, causing it to capsize.

''It is quite possible that the ship would keel over if water was

coming in the way they described,'' said Mr Kari Lehtola, from Finland.

Crewman Henrik Sillaste said he saw on TV monitors inside the engine

room water rushing into the car deck through front doors.

Another survivor spoke of loud crashing sounds, like the noise falling

trucks would make.

Maritime safety expert Mr Ake Sjoblom, of Sweden's National Maritime

Administration, said he had taken Estonian student safety inspectors

over the ship just before it set sail.

He told Estonian television he had found nothing which might have

caused the accident. There was some minor defect in the ''rubber

packing'' of the bow door but the door was undamaged.

Mr Sjoblom stressed he had no authority in Estonia. ''It was not a

survey or an inspection, it was training.'' He said the ''general

impression of the ship was very good''.

Mr Johanson suggested there could have been some sort of underwater

collision or explosion but could give no details. ''Some people are

talking about there being something under water, some kind of rocks, but

there are no rocks in that area.

''Theoretically, it could not go down at all. All the passenger

ferries are built in this way: it is practically impossible.''

Survivors have been given accounts of the scramble to get off the

sinking vessel in which the strongest lived while the weak and elderly

perished.

Mr Aundus Maidre, a 19-year-old Estonian passenger, said he had been

sleeping on the first deck of the ferry, below the car deck, when he

heard a sound like trucks falling over and he fled as the boat began to

list.

''I heard a loud crashing sound like the noise falling trucks would

have made,'' he said from his hospital bed. ''Then the whole ship

started to list.

''I ran upstairs, past the car deck, and saw water gushing in. It came

very fast. Some old people had already given up hope and were just

sitting there crying.

''I also stepped over children who were wailing and holding on to the

railing.''

Bodies were still surfacing on the wind-whipped waters and surging

seas yesterday.

The British ambassador to Estonia, Mr Brian Low, a Scot, said he

shared the deep sense of shock and horror which had pervaded the

capital.

''Tallinn is such a small town, and just about everyone knew someone

on board. I know many people who have had relatives on this ship and

they are all devastated.''

Mr Low said a message was delivered to the Estonian President from the

Queen expressing her deep sorrow at the disaster. The Prime Minister had

also made an offer of whatever assistance the British Government could

provide.