HELSINKI -- Human error did not cause the ferry Estonia to sink last September, killing 900 people, a member of the investigating commission said Monday.


"We can rule out that the bow door was (left) open," said Tuomo Karppinen, of Finland, after studying the visor-like piece retrieved from the Baltic seabed. Salvagers raised the 56-ton outer door of the ferry last Friday, hoping for definitive evidence on why the ship sank on Sept. 28 with more than 1,000 people on board.


"It's very clear now that all the hydraulic locks on the door were closed at the time of the accident," Karppinen said from Hanko, a Finnish port city 125 kilometers west of Helsinki, where the twisted bow section was brought after being salvaged.


In Stockholm, the commission's technical expert, Borje Stenstrom, blamed the accident on poor design combined with unusually strong 10-meter waves.


As investigations into the crash continued, a new ferry launched by the Estline company, which operated the ill-fated Estonia, hit a breakwater Saturday as it was leaving Tallinn for Stockholm. The collision left the hull of the Mare Balticum leaking, but the ferry was able to return to port, the Baltic News Service said.