On January 14, 1993, in the early morning hours in the Baltic Sea off the coast of the German island of Rügen, during a cruise from Świnoujście to Ystad, the Polish ferry Jan Heweliusz sank. 55 people died, including all the passengers, most of whom were drivers of the loaded trucks. Jan Holoubek now wants to talk about that tragedy.
That night the storm was off the charts and the ferry wasn’t fully operational
Previously, “Jan Heweliusz” made hundreds of cruises on the Baltic Sea. Over the course of 16 years, he had about 30 breakdowns, which became his trademark. One of the causes of the tragedy of January 1993 was another one of them. On January 10, 1993, while mooring in Ystad, “Jan Heweliusz” damaged the stern gate. The fault was neither properly reported nor repaired upon arrival in Świnoujście, and yet the ferry set off for Sweden before midnight three days later with 28 loaded trucks and 10 railway wagons on board. He was two hours late, so at first the captain decided to sail as fast as possible. Later, he was to make a disastrous decision to reduce the speed of the ferry. In stormy conditions, this was supposed to cause loss of steering.
Jan Heweliusz Balcer – own work, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia.org
And that night there was a huge storm in the Baltic Sea – it was said to be 12 degrees on the Beaufort scale. The wind gusted to 160 km/h and the waves were five meters high. At around 4 a.m. a strong wave hit the side of the vessel and the ferry began to list. Several minutes later it rose to 35 degrees and loads began to fall off the deck. The ferry turned upside down at 5:12 and although it drifted at sea for the next few days, rescuers failed to get inside it.
“Jan Heweliusz” still rests at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. There will be a Netflix series about him
Only nine sailors were saved. 20 crew members and 35 passengers died, and the bodies of several people were never found. At that time, the water temperature was only 2 degrees Celsius, and most people were roused from sleep, in their pajamas, completely unprepared for such a situation. One of the sailors who survived the disaster recalled in an interview with “Głos Koszalina”:
We sat in a raft filled with water for several hours before the first helicopter appeared. It was a German helicopter. People in the raft were losing strength from the cold, a Polish truck driver died in our arms.
“Jan Heweliusz” is the first Polish seagoing ferry lost in a disaster and the only lost sea vessel in the entire history of the Polish Merchant Navy in which all passengers died. The wreck still lies at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, at a depth of 27 meters. The causes of the disaster were investigated in Poland, and later the case was taken up by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which found irregularities. Some people still find further mistakes, also during the rescue operation, and investigate the secrets of the night of January 13-14, 1993.
Jan Holoubek: Such a tragedy that leaves its mark on the entire society
– I remember this catastrophe, and I was a young boy then. This is a tragedy that leaves its mark on the entire society and remains in the memory of several generations for years, not to mention the people who lost their loved ones and friends in this catastrophe. I think this is a chance to talk about different human attitudes in an extreme situation and about this tragedy as such – said Holoubek a year ago in an interview for “Kurier Szczeciński”, now quoted by wszczecinie.pl in connection with the information about the filmmakers looking for extras, and also cars from those years that could be used in a Netflix series.
Kasper Bajon will work with Holoubek on the script of “Heweliusz”. These two have, among others, “Wielką Woda” and “Rojst’97”. At the last film festival in Gdynia, Holoubek received an award for best director for the film “Doppelganger. Doppelganger” (the production received a total of five statuettes).
The first reports about the production appeared in the middle of last year, and now work on the set has started. The photos are to be shot in January, among others. in Szczecin and Świnoujście. Those who want to play the role of policemen, journalists, passers-by, sailors, homeless people, security guards and sellers in “Heweliusz” (this is the current title of the project) must pay attention to whether they have modern hairstyles and tattoos in visible places, and in in the case of women, also extended eyelashes, permanent makeup and extended nails.
When it comes to cars, they are looking for models from the 1980s and early 1990s. According to the filmmakers, none of them will be damaged during filming, but they will be dirty for the purposes of the film. For now, there is no information whether we can count on the premiere of “Hevelius” this year.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
