The car and passenger ferry Scandinavian Star were originally built in 1971. The ship was on the 1st of April 1990 put into service in Denmark on the Frederikshavn – Oslo route. A week later on the night of the 7th of April, there was a series of deliberately started fires on the ferry. The fire led to the death of 159 people.

The following investigation was divided between Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The Norwegian police got the task to investigate the fire, the Swedish police should identify the victims and do technical assistance and the Danish police should investigate the relations regarding the ownership and insurance.

Later have different unanswered questions been pointed out and the Danish part of the investigation has in different ways been questioned. Therefore the Danish parliament in 2021 agreed on forming an independent inquiry regarding the ownership and insurance of Scandinavian Star.

Photo: VG/NTB/Ritzau Scanpix