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 the ...
-built
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
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 taxi ...
named after astronomer
Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius
Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish:
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*
Some sources refer to Hevelius as German:
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*
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*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, and ...
–
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 o ...
. 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 s ...
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](_blank)
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, and is ...
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 List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...
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 a ...
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.
See also
*List of disasters in Poland by death toll
Listed below are the worst disasters in Poland's history, listed by death toll. This list excludes warfare, the Holocaust and intentional acts of destruction, but may include accidents in which the military, Polish or foreign, was involved (e.g. ...
*List of roll-on/roll-off vessel accidents
This is a list of roll-on/roll-off vessels involved in maritime incidents and accidents.
References
{{Reflist
RORO
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, se ...
* ORP ''Heweliusz''
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