MS ''Jan Heweliusz'' was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

-built Polish

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

named after astronomer

Johannes Hevelius Johannes Hevelius Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish: * * * * * * * Some sources refer to Hevelius as German: * * * * *of the Royal Society * (in German also known as ''Hevel''; pl, Jan Heweliusz; – 28 January 1687) was a councillor ...

( pl, Jan Heweliusz) that served on the route

Ystad Ystad (; older da, Ysted) is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, a ...

–

Świnoujście Świnoujście (; german: Swinemünde ; nds, Swienemünn; all three meaning "Świna ivermouth"; csb, Swina) is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. Situated mainly on the islands ...

. It was built in Norway in 1977 and was owned by

Polish Ocean Lines Polish Ocean Lines (PLO, pl, Polskie Linie Oceaniczne) is a Polish commercial shipping company, with headquarters in Gdynia. The company was created in 1951 in a merger of three smaller shipping companies. Currently, PLO acts as a holding compan ...

and operated by its

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...

company Euroafrica Shipping Lines. In the early hours of 14 January 1993 it

capsize Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...

d and sank in 27 metres of water off

Cape Arcona Cape Arkona () is a 45-metre (150-foot) high cape on the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It forms the tip of the Wittow peninsula, just a few kilometres north of the Jasmund National Park. The protected landscape of Cape Arko ...

on the coast of

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

while sailing toward Ystad with 64 passengers and crew. ''Rzeczpospolita'' article from 2008-12-0

/ref> The accident claimed the lives of 20 crewmen and 35 passengers. Ten bodies were never found. Nine people were rescued. The sinking of ''Jan Heweliusz'' is the most deadly peacetime maritime disaster involving a Polish ship.

1986 fire

In September 1986 the ship suffered a serious fire. No one on board was injured, but the ship was heavily damaged. The ship was repaired by coating the damaged areas with 60 tons of concrete, which increased the weight of the ship and dangerously affected its stability; this was apparently an illegal method.Głos Szczeciński
Tajemniczy beton z "Heweliusza". Accessed: 2016-06-21.

1993 sinking

At 04:10 on 14 January 1993, the ship started Angle of list, listing in hurricane-force winds, estimated at . It capsized at 05:12. The waves were up to 6 metres high and ferries in the nearby port of

Sassnitz Sassnitz (, before 1993 in german: Saßnitz) is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2012 was 9,498. Sassnitz is a well-known seaside resort and port town, a ...

had been cancelled. Prior to its sinking, ''Jan Heweliusz'' had been involved in 28 incidents, including collisions with fishing boats, listing, engine failure and the aforementioned fire in 1986. It had ballast problems and had also damaged its hull in Ystad during docking, but this was not reported to the port authorities and only makeshift repairs were made. It sailed two hours late, carrying 10 railway carriages from five European countries. The Marine Chamber of Appeals in

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

blamed the accident on the poor technical condition of the ship, with the captain, who died in the accident, also being blamed for allowing the ship to sail in such an unseaworthy state. In 2005 the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

in Strasburg ruled that the official investigation of the sinking was not impartial and granted €4,600 in damages each to eleven relatives of the victims. The wreck of the ship is located at a depth of 27 metres and is frequently visited by divers.

References

External links

Underwater pictures of the ''Jan Heweliusz'' wreck
* Björkman, Anders (2007)
Estonia revisited +Learning from the often forgotten Jan Heweliusz disaster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jan Heweliusz Ships built in Norway Ferries of Poland Shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Maritime incidents in 1993 Maritime incidents in 1986 1977 ships 1986 in Poland 1993 in Poland January 1993 events in Europe September 1986 events in Europe

1986 fire

1993 sinking

See also

References

External links