The character-driven eight-part series written by Bordertown’s Miikko Oikkonen, chronicles the investigation that followed the true maritime disaster of 1994.

The mega-European event drama due to start filming in April between Finland, Sweden and Estonia, is co-directed by Måns Månsson (Snabba Cash, Chernobyl) and Juuso Syrjä (Bordertown).

Driving the ambitious drama are Finland’s Matti Halonen and Johannes Lassila of Fisher King, with co-production partners Martina Stöhr and Petra Jönsson of Kärnfilm Sweden, Riina Sildos of Estonia’s Amrion, and André Logie of Belgium’s Panache Production.

C More/TV4’s Nordic Head of Drama Piodor Gustafsson is serving as executive producer.

The series is co-produced by C More Finland & Sweden, TV4, MTV Finland and Telia Estonia, with support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.Beta Film handles sales outside the Nordics.

The MS Estonia disaster of September 28, 1994 in which the ferry sank in the Baltic sea, costing the lives of 852 people from 17 countries, is one of the worse accidents of the 20th century, but it is still lacking many answers. The series will focus on the joint investigation between Estonia, Finland and Sweden, told from several characters’ viewpoint, - survivors, rescuers, family members, politicians, the media and investigators themselves.

“The sinking of MS Estonia was a tragic event that affected everyone,” said producer Matti Halonen “It is very important for us to respect all the victims and their relatives. Almost 30 years have passed since the accident and with the help of fiction, we can tell new perspectives on what happened,” he said, mentioning the politically-charged and difficult work from the investigation committee and final report delivered three years ago, which was met with controversy.

Jani Hartikainen Head of Drama and Development at MTV & C More Finland said he was taken “by the strong script and emotionally compelling characters”. “The story is very character-driven and is complemented by engaging visual storytelling. I believe the series will give deeper insight to the tragic event, and that makes the series worth doing", he stated.

Concurring with him, his colleague Piodor Gustafsson who is proud to have gathered partners from the countries involved -Finland, Sweden and Estonia- added: “It will be exciting to follow the drama of how the three countries try to understand and deal with this terrible disaster.”

The series is due to premiere on the Nordic streaming service C More in the fall 2022.

The MS Estonia disaster was also the subject of the 2020 sensational Norwegian documentary series Estonia-The Find That Changes Everything from director Henrik Evertsson which sent shockwaves in the Nordics, as it uncovered new evidence behind the sinking of the ferry. The docu-series was produced by Monster for Discovery Networks/TV2 Norge.