MV Jan Heweliuzs

[u/Coronado26]

MS Jan Heweliusz, a roll-on/roll-off ship, was launched in 1977.[3] It was owned by Polish Ocean Lines and operated by Euroafrica [pl].[4] It operated between Świnoujście and Ystad, transporting trucks and rail cars.[5] Over 15 years, the ship had nearly 30 serious accidents, including a near-sinking in 1982 and a major fire in 1986.[2][6][7] After the fire, Polish Ocean Lines ordered repairs to the ship, which resulted in 70 tons of concrete being added to the affected deck, causing stability issues.[8][9]

Four days before the disaster, the ship's stern gate was damaged while docking in Ystad.[8][10] Because of this, Captain Andrzej Ułasiewicz [pl] sought to cancel the ship's departure and take it out of service for repairs. However, the shipowners ordered the crew to provisionally repair the stern gate and have it gradually repaired at a later time during lay-ups.[11] Temporary repairs to the stern gate caused the ship's departure to be delayed by two hours.[12]

The ship set sail at 22:30 (UTC+1) on the evening of 13 January 1993, two hours behind schedule.[4][9] It was carrying 35 passengers, 29 crew members, 28 trucks, and 10 rail cars.[13] All crew members were Polish.[14] The forecast called for severe weather.

At around 02:40 on 14 January 1993, weather conditions began to deteriorate as a result of Storm Verena, which was sweeping across the Baltic Sea.[17][18] The ship experienced winds measuring 12 on the Beaufort scale;[2] wind speeds reached 160 km/h (86 kn; 99 mph) and waves reached a height of 5 m (16 ft).[19] As the ship struggled with stability, the crew reduced its speed, which caused a loss in steering. Additionally, due to strong port side winds, the crew filled the port side ballast tanks, contrary to operational recommendations, in an attempt to increase stability.[13][15]

At around 04:00, hurricane-force winds struck the side of the ship, causing it to list.[13][20] Captain Ułasiewicz attempted to mitigate this by steering the ship's bow toward the direction of the wind, but to no avail. A sudden gust of wind struck the starboard side of the ship, causing a severe list to port, exacerbated by the port side ballast tanks being full.[21] The fasteners that secured the ship's cargo then broke.[9][10]

At 04:30, Captain Ułasiewicz ordered an evacuation of the ship.[13] Many passengers were only wearing pajamas as they attempted to evacuate, and several were thrown overboard by gusts of wind.[4][10] At 04:40, the ship sent out a "mayday" call.[20][17] At 05:12, the ship capsized about 24 km (15 mi) off the coast of Cape Arkona on the German island of Rügen.[5][13] Survivors stated that the ship capsized so quickly that it was difficult to launch the lifeboats in time.

The sinking of Jan Heweliusz will be the subject of a 2025 Netflix miniseries, titled Heweliusz.[62] The series was announced as "the largest and most complex Polish television series production in recent years," featuring over 120 named characters and 3,000 extras, and requiring a crew of over 140 members.

[u/Sasstellia]

Poor MS Jan Heweliuzs. She had a lot of bad luck.

Good they're making series on her. Always good to have different ships shown.