Mayday auf der Ostsee – Der Untergang der „Jan Heweliusz“

“It was an unbelievable storm that moved across the Baltic Sea that night

. I never experienced anything like it again later.”

“It was only when I heard the alarm that I realized how bad the situation is. That the

ship is sinking.”

“This is the power of nature. There's nothing you can do about that."

"My biggest fear was that I'd be trapped in the sinking ship."

"You don't give it much thought in advance. You move off [put to sea] and do the job!”

The night of January 13th to 14th, 1993: The mighty hurricane “Verena” swept across the Baltic Sea, extreme winds and waves become the

undoing of the Polish ferry “Jan Heweliusz” .

She loses the battle against the forces of nature and sinks

around 20 nautical miles east of Rügen in the early hours of the morning. 55 people die, only nine

survive. The accident is one of the most challenging missions in the history of the DGzRS. For several

days, the sea rescuers searched

for survivors together with Polish and Danish colleagues as well as air rescuers. In this film rescuers and the rescued have their say.

Together they commemorate the sinking of the "Jan Heweliusz".

Karl-Heinz Schumacher was also on the search for days at the time. 30 years later, in the port

of Freest, the former coxswain of the Greifswalder Oie station meets his successor.

David Harder and the crew of the BERTHOLD BEITZ receive Schumacher during a

routine stay for chatting. Just like his active colleagues, Karl-Heinz

Schumacher knew during his service that any calm can be over quickly when an

emergency calls. For me there has never been a second thought.

If someone is in need, we get started. It's that simple. That's why we're here, that's

our job. The night of January 14, 1993 is such a

moment. The evening is initially completely calm

for Schumacher and his two colleagues on duty on the Greifswalder Oie. But from one moment to the next

the wind blew up enormously during the night. It was like a cannonball. Really like

a cannonball. It banged and the window in our accommodation flew inwards

. So vigorous – although it was a bit sheltered back there – the window flew inwards.

Yes, and that's where it started, right? Then we had to stiffen and then get out. Of course, we always had handheld radios

on hand. And later, while we were working, we heard

that somewhere – not an emergency call – but a Polish ferry was having problems.

Shortly before, the hurricane damaged radio masts on Rügen. The DGzRS headquarters in Bremen

cannot reach the remote Greifswalder Oie. Without knowing it, Karl-Heinz

Schumacher and his two colleagues rush to their rescue cruiser HANS LÜKEN. But even

getting there becomes a challenge...

The port of Swinoujscie in Poland, near the German island of Usedom. The city is the destination

and departure point for large ferries to and from Scandinavia. The ships are part of the

cityscape – today as they were then. Here we meet Leszek Kochanowski. He is

one of the survivors of the sinking of the "Jan Heweliusz". On the evening of January 13,

1993, like many times before, Kochanowski was on board as chief seaman. On the previous

trip, the ferry had rammed the quay wall in Ystad, Sweden. The tailgate was

damaged. This has an impact on the next departure in Swinoujscie.

The service team took quite a long time to carry out the repairs. Our scheduled departure

was at 9.30pm in the evening. But that didn't fit. Eventually it started at 11:30

p.m., more than two hours late.

The “Jan Heweliusz” was launched in 1977. Already in her first year she collides

with the quay in Ystad. In 1982 the ship capsized in the port there, possibly due to incorrect

loading. After several months, it is erected again by cranes. Four years later

there is a serious fire on board. Despite these events, the "Jan Heweliusz" is

a ship like any other for her crew members like Gregory Sudwoj. The former

electrical engineer now lives and works in Switzerland. He had no qualms

about taking the ferry to sea. She was a bit unlucky vessel,

everyone knew that. But we also firmly believed that bad luck like that didn't last forever – with people and with ships.

Around midnight, the "Jan Heweliusz" is finally on the open sea. Leszek Kochanowski is not aware that they move directly towards

the hurricane "Verena". There was nothing to

suggest it, the water was calm and we didn't feel any particular wind force. But the captain

and officers had most likely received a weather warning at sea that

very bad weather was approaching from the north with gale force winds.

The wind keeps picking up. At around 2 a.m., Gregory Sudwoj has a restless

sleep in his cabin. Then something unexpected happens:

The first sign that something was wrong was when the drawer

fell out of my desk. This had never happened before, not even in previous storms. And I had

seen many before, on the “Heweliusz”

Leszek Kochanowski was also woken up with other sailors to

check the cargo on the vehicle deck.

We had to tighten the chains on some of the vehicles because they were too loose. We

also put new chains on the railroad cars. At that time, around 3 a.m.,

the weather conditions were already very bad and the storm could be felt very clearly.

East of Rügen the ship becomes increasingly unstable. The captain has the ballast tanks

flooded with seawater to compensate for the imbalance that is beginning to occur. Exactly that will be

fatal a little later.

While the situation out on the Baltic Sea worsens,

a temporary calm returns on board the sea rescue cruiser ARKONA. The ship, which is now based in Warnemünde, is

still operating from Sassnitz on the island of Rügen in 1993. Machinist Andreas Podhola and

his colleagues have a lot to do with the first spurts of the hurricane.

It started in the evening, so that when it got dark and the storm came up

in the Sassnitz harbour, we were able to collect some fishing cutters that had been torn loose. The hurricane gradually unfolds

its full force. After their work and a small repair on the daughter boat,

the sea rescuers lie down temporarily. They assume that in this weather there

is no one at sea who doesn't really have to be. If

someone were to fall into the sea in this rough sea and this cold, the consequences would be dramatic. The survival time was

, if you don't wear a survival suit, a maximum of 20 minutes without a suit. Maybe

an hour or two with a suit on. Such considerations are now becoming bitterly

serious on the “Jan Heweliusz”. The attempt to

reduce the list by changing course turns into the opposite. The crew wants to pump the ballast water around again.

But that fails. The hurricane is now pushing the ferry unsustainably onto the port side.

Leszek Kochanowski is working deep inside the engine room when the abandon

ship alarm sounds.

It was an enormously strenuous walk from the engine room up to the exits. There were narrow, slippery

metal stairs, it was wet and the ship tilted more and more. I

often had to cling to keep from falling and I had to take multiple breaks. But

somehow I made it on deck.

At the same time, Gregory Sudwoj struggled through the capsizing ship.

A lot of furniture moved uncontrollably. There were strange noises. That was scary.

I saw doors slam, people shouted and screamed. A truly terrifying moment.

My biggest fear was that I would be trapped in the sinking ship without a chance

of getting out.

Both Kochanowski and Sudwoj make it out. Here the hurricane whips across

the deck. People can hardly stand. Because of the strong list,

lifeboats can no longer be lowered into the water. Inflatable life rafts

are the only hope left.

The wind and the waves were extreme and the ferry started to list more and more. We

boarded a liferaft at the last moment when the liferaft

slipped off the ferry and towards the sea almost by itself due to the tilt . It was the last moment to

get in.

The "Jan Heweliusz" is heeling more and more, capsizing is inevitable. around 4.40

a.m. the ferry sends the distress signal “Mayday”. The DGzRS Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre

immediately alerted the ARKONA in Sassnitz. But where the sea rescuers are supposed to go exactly is still

completely unclear. The point was that no exact position was known. The ship sank

so quickly that it was probably no longer

possible to give a correct position. The Danish RCC initially assumes that the "Jan Heweliusz"

is in trouble west of Rügen. The exact opposite is the case. Only after more than

half an hour the rough direction is clarified. The ARKONA runs into

the hurricane with extreme force. At almost the same time, the sea rescuers are

deployed on the Greifswalder Oie. They only reach their rescue cruiser HANS LÜKEN with great difficulty

. It's a bit of a walk down to the harbor from the property. Free

from [nothing more now] and then you could not walk upright. You almost had

to bend down or almost crawl for us to get on board. The HANS LÜKEN has scarcely set sail

before the full force of the hurricane is felt. Hard work for Karl-Heinz

Schumacher at the rudder, who quickly realizes that, despite the need to be hasty, nothing

should be rushed. I had the lever at full speed and then a mighty breaker came. And there

the forecastle was under water, only the tower looked out. And if I

hadn't backed off then we would have gotten another [breaker] and it

would have turned us around and then we would have been gone. And what would happen then - then

we would have lain there and the "Heweliusz" there. You can't fight the forces

of nature. They are stronger! Always stronger! Gregory Sudwoj,

Leszek Kochanowski and other survivors felt this more than clearly. The life raft

is tossed back and forth by the meter-high waves.

We tried to

close the openings - the doors so to speak - of the liferaft to have it warmer inside. But we didn't make it. Our fingers

were so

cold, we couldn't close it. Over time, a lot of water sloshed

in through the hatches. That was awful. We sat in the liferaft and the ice-cold water

was sometimes up to our chests.

The survivors on the liferaft try to support each other. Nevertheless,

Gregory Sudwoj finds himself in an extreme situation.

I was thrown out of the life raft. I have no idea how I got back.

Another wave probably threw me back in. That was the scariest

thing I remember: floating in the sea outside the island. I don't know

how long or how far - maybe I was just one meter from the liferaft, I don't know.

While the shipwrecked are fighting for their lives at sea, a Navy Sea King rescue helicopter

takes off from the Kiel-Holtenau base . The naval pilots regularly train

together with the sea rescuers of the DGzRS. Now the emergency has come. The first information

we had was that a ferry was about to sink there. Then of course I

immediately got everything ready and we took off and flew in the direction of Rügen.

For 20 years Detlev Finster has been working in the rescue control center at sea of ​​the DGzRS – the

German Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, MRCC for short. While today he coordinates help in emergencies from here

, at the beginning of the 1990s he was a rescuer himself.

As an operations officer in the Navy, he is part of a Sea King crew and,

among other things, takes care of the first aid for shipwrecked people. Even though he saw a lot

before the "Jan Heweliusz" crashed , the hurricane of that night stands out among them all.

That was an unbelievable storm that moved across the Baltic Sea that night

. I never experienced anything like that again afterwards. So we had wind speeds of

up to 90-100 knots, the Sea King itself flies at 100-110 knots. We had

a tailwind of 100 knots, we were there incredibly fast. It was also relatively difficult

for us to realize that we were deployed so quickly. What the helicopter crew

also has to realize first: the supposed emergency is much worse. The ferry

has already capsized. The relief operation becomes a search operation. In the meantime, a freighter pointed us

to an island where they assumed there

were survivors. Then we flew directly to the freighter and the life raft

. The flight mechanic then lowered me down on a rope.

But then, unfortunately, I had to realize that the people who were in there on the island

have all already died. And I hadn't really

realized from above what kind of swell there was down there. And the first thought that

popped into my head: why is the machine jumping from top to bottom all the time?

But it wasn't the machine that jumped. It was I

who did these sets of eight meters on the waves. The helicopter was up in the air, stable as it should be,

and I was the one who went up and down. And then getting to the liferaft

is difficult, because the raft is always being

washed away and back by the waves, it takes an awfully long time.

There are already dead persons on the life raft, where Kochanowski and Sudwoj have been hoping for help for almost two hours

.

One [truck] driver, he actually died in my arms. I will never forget that.

I don't know who he was. He didn't say a word the whole time. I

don't know which country he came from. He wore only a T-shirt and light shoes. He was dying.

He was so cold, he could not ... Maybe he didn't want to say a word or he could not say a word.

Kochanowski and Sudwoj themselves are also doing very poorly.

After all that time in the life raft, I was so cold I

would have given anything for a blanket to keep me warm. Soon I had no

more feeling, my strength was dwindling and I kept losing consciousness. At some point I didn't care anymore.

In came to a state where I felt happy. That was probably the beginning of the end.

At this time, the sea rescue cruiser ARKONA is pounding through the hurricane-driven sea.

It's still before sunrise. In the dark, rescue man Andreas Podhola and

his colleagues try with great effort to locate survivors in the waves. That's actually

a fortunate circumstance when you find someone there. If you don't have radar echo. Also,

you can't watch all the time. You have to duck, too. The sea is going over you.

You dive down again, look again. You cannot capture a complete picture. You come

back up and start searching again. And after hours of searching we

found a few lights. The lights belong to the life raft on which Leszek Kochanowski and Gregory Sudwoj, among others,

have been waiting for three hours. Almost

unconscious, they perceive that rescue is actually approaching.

Suddenly we heard a ship - it was the rescue cruiser ARKONA. We looked

through the hatch of our liferaft and it was such a beautiful sight as the ship

came towards us in the midst of this stormy

sea. Then I read these big letters on the hull: "SAR" - "Search and Rescue".

There was finally hope and we felt that we were in good hands.

But the shipwrecked must first come on board whilst the sea is rough.

The crew of the ARKONA lowers a rescue net on the side. Gregory Sudwoj knows:

it's now or never. It' noise. It's the diesel engine noise, the wind and everything.

A sea rescuer yelled something in German, something like: "You can do it!" So

I quickly climbed up with all my remaining strength. And I found myself on ARKONA, on the deck.

After Sudwoj, a second survivor climbs to the rescue net, but remains exhausted in the

lower part of the net. We had to pull him up now. It's

such an effort to get that net over the skirting boards

that we couldn't do it - for now. Because the liferaft with its hand lines,

which you can hang on to, had become entangled in the rolls of the net. Now

the sea rescuers are making a difficult decision. Now we had to cut the raft loose again

to get the man off. After all, no one could crawl over him to

[get to the top]. Also, people were so weak and hypothermic that they

might not have made it at all. With an immense effort,

they finally get the second castaway on board.

You got so much adrenaline there. Tug at it like a fool: "You get this!" We

got it.

However, the life raft is now separated from the ARKONA again and is immediately drifting

away again. Leszek Kochanowski and two other survivors are still on the island. Kochanowski

hardly notices anything anymore. He loses consciousness several times. In the

meantime, the ARKONA has communicated the position of the life raft. The rescue helicopter

with Detlev Finster on board will soon be there. The pilot is headed for the life raft.

The on-board mechanic reported that there were obviously survivors in there and

then said straight away: "There's someone sitting on the tire from the life raft and waving."

That's why we decided not to do a double winch procedure, but

simply lowered the sling . We just thought that this survivor,

who is down on the raft,

would then immediately put the noose on himself and want to be roped up. But he didn't. He

stayed down until he sent the others up and only got up at the end himself.

The ARKONA is now returning to Rügen to

bring the two rescued people to a hospital. The Sea King helicopter also turns away with three survivors on board, course:

mainland. On the return flight, the picture is horrific and it quickly becomes clear that there

is no one else who can be helped. The ferry had sunk. It drifted keel up. We had an incredible

number of people in the water who had already died. We had life rafts that

had capsized where no one could be in either.

All around, tarpaulins and chairs and tables and people in life jackets are floating upside down

in the water. The life jackets on top, the ones below hung on them. So and then you arrive.

So. And then you do your work – at least that's how it felt to me – ice cold. For me it was

important that we also retrieve all those found. That is important for the relatives afterwards.

And for us, too. Karl-Heinz Schumacher and the crew of the HANS LÜKEN no

longer find any survivors. Not at the first attempt and not in the following two days.

The sea rescue cruisers HANS LÜKEN and ARKONA, together with government ships

and helicopters, are always on the move in the area of ​​​​the accident site - always in

the hope of finding someone alive. It doesn't come true. 55 people

die when the "Jan Heweliusz" sinks. Only nine survive the tragedy that Karl-Heinz

Schumacher is still dealing with 30 years later. Every detail is burned in. Every detail,

I must say. I can't say anything else about that. Everything, all the details

then come back to me and go through my head and "Did you do everything right?"

Then I come to the conclusion: "Yes, everything was right and good, the way we did it." Schumacher

has long since retired, but the DGzRS will always have a big place in his heart.

And you can see that at his home. In addition to many other memorabilia, there is

also this: he has kept the service flag from the night of the operation to this day. For

him it is both a reminder and a warning. I know what it can look like on the Baltic Sea, weather-wise.

No one should ever underestimate this: this sky-high, relatively short sea – anyone who

underestimates that has bad, very bad cards. Against all odds, Leszek Kochanowski

won the fight for his life. This is

not clear even after his rescue. He's extremely cold. In the hospital, his blood has to

be warmed up carefully. Kochanowski has been in a coma for two days. When he wakes up,

he feels reborn.

I didn't even get a runny nose, despite the hypothermia. I felt

great. The doctors told me that I was given a second life and that

I should always celebrate my second birthday. They saved my life.

After the sinking of the "Jan Heweliusz", Gregory Sudwoj continued

to sail for a few years before he worked as an engineer in Dubai and finally in Switzerland. Since

the accident, he no longer thinks so much about what

could go wrong in everyday life. Because there are worse things in life than failure. And he learned another lesson

from the catastrophe off Rügen. That the DGzRS saved us,

has made me feel like no matter what happens, there

is always hope since that special day.

The "Jan Heweliusz". A ship whose name

has been burned into the memories of all those affected, rescuers and the rescued. Her wreck was never raised. It is about 20 meters

deep, now littered with shells and deposits. The once white hull is overgrown.

And yet it seems as if time has stood still. Here at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which on

that fateful night of January 14, 1993

proved in a terrible way what irrepressible power this sea can sometimes show.