Original subtitles

DARŁOWO, MILITARY MARITIME RESCUE BASE 10 MINUTES AFTER THE MAYDAY CALL

With heavy list to the port side.

I repeat, really tough position.

ATC Darłowo, Second Lieutenant Mączka speaking.

-Polish ferry Jan Heweliusz. -Received.

With heavy list to the port side.

-Oh fuck. -In really tough position.

-Heweliusz, what is your position? -Lieutenant! Lieutenant!

-What is it? -Heweliusz is sinking.

What, the war vessel?

No, the passenger ship. Sixty people on board.

Oh fuck. What's the location?

He didn't tell me.

-Declare a full alert for everyone. -Yes, sir.

-Get me the navigator. -Yes, sir.

I need coordinates immediately.

In really tough position. This is…

Mayday, mayday, mayday.

This is Polish ferry Jan Heweliusz.

-We're fucking capsizing, Captain! -I'm transmitting!

Jan Heweliusz, Jan Heweliusz, what is your position?

Waldek, for fuck's sake, what is our position?

This is a turd, not a ship!

The radar's fucked up! The list is too heavy.

I can't see the land!

I repeat, mayday, mayday, mayday.

All ships, all ships…

Ready, unhook it!

Gentlemen, let's move! We don't have much time.

001, 002, 003. Report your readiness for take-off.

001, ready to take off.

002, we're ready for take off.

003, ready to take off.

Roger that. Wait for approval to take off.

Make sure Mentzel's safely evacuated, will you?

-And don't return here. -But, Captain…

I said don't come back. Save yourself. That's an order!

We're gonna die here!

-Where are the life rafts? -Here! Here!

We need to get out! Please!

Where are the lifeboats?

Will somebody save us!

Oh, it's you. You have to do something!

I can't die here. I'm not a sailor.

I can't die. I'm a courier for the military, you understand?

-Go up onto the deck. -Do something, man. I can't die here!

You have to help me!

Follow him up there. What are you waiting for?! There!

-I can't die here! -Come on, move!

Madam, excuse me.

The captain's ordered an evacuation. He asked me to help you.

Here's an immersion suit. You're gonna have to put this on, please.

-Here. -I'm staying where I am. I'm not going.

Madam, listen to me.

This ship cannot be saved.

That's why I'm staying here.

There's gonna be a rapid rescue operation. We've got a chance.

Nobody will rescue us.

We both know what's going on.

The rescuers won't get here.

Please, let me stay here.

I just want to be left alone, do you understand?

I'm not moving!

-But the captain explicitly said… -The captain doesn't have to know, okay?

Just get out!

Get out!

Guys, we've gotta take off. We need every minute.

Where the fucking hell do we go?

We're 16 miles from Kolliker!

Sixteen miles south-west from Kolliker Ort!

Waldek, dial the throttles back to zero.

There's no time left!

Krzysiek, Leszek, all of you! Get out of here!

Sixteen miles south-west from Kolliker Ort!

Andrzej.

See you soon.

Sixteen miles south-west…

No! South-east from Kolliker Ort!

Sixteen miles south-east from Kolliker Ort!

Fucking piece of shit!

Captain!

Witek, what are you doing here?

Captain, I've got a suit!

Captain, put it on! Let's go!

Get the fuck out of here!

We still have a chance to save ourselves. Please!

Save the others!

Staying here changes nothing, Andrzej!

Nothing! I'm begging you!

I'm begging you!

Someone else should have it.

Save yourself, Witek!

I'm sorry…

I'm truly sorry, Andrzej.

Mayday, mayday, mayday!

This is Polish ferry Jan Heweliusz.

ATC Darłowo, Lieutenant Słowik speaking.

Yes, copy that. Leave it with me.

Abort the mission.

-Sorry? -We have to abort the mission.

-Sorry, sir? -We have to abort the fucking mission.

Jan Heweliusz, Jan Heweliusz…

The mission is aborted.

The Germans are taking over the rescue. Emergency readiness has been lowered.

-We can't fly there. -You must be kidding.

Yeah. Can you see it?

Yeah, there you go. So I'll just press record… It's on.

There you are!

Yeah… hold on.

Um… there!

-Let me see. -Take a look.

There it is. Damn! See that?

Now we're zooming in. Zooming in, zooming in…

Look!

Zooming in…

Right? And what's going on?

And you're about to disappear from where you are.

Disappearing away…

What's going on? Move over this way.

Just there!

There you are.

Get these off…

Now you give me a little kiss.

-Daddy… -No, just do as you're told.

That's better. Now we zoom out.

-Mummy! -Jola, honey!

I think you're in our film now.

Look, I can bring it closer. And do it faster.

And now, more kisses for later!

Do you know what it's called when you move into a shot?

-Zoom? -"Zoom" is for a camera.

It's "close-up."

-When Dad was leaving this time… -"Close…" Oh, God!

You've done this at school?

I didn't give him as many kisses as possible.

You should have!

Because I sat in front of the TV and didn't bother to get up.

NO COMPENSATION? DRUNK CREW ALLEGEDLY TO BLAME FOR HEWELIUSZ DISASTER

What is this bullshit?

Don't worry about it, come on.

They didn't have any butter.

They have to pay something!

Not necessarily.

And that summons in the post?

What was that?

The Maritime Chamber.

I can't be late.

Kisses, bye.

WARSAW 12 FEBRUARY

May his watch forever

be a peaceful one.

After what they're writing, I seriously doubt that.

I know, Jola.

I saw that despicable article.

I'll do everything I can

to make them print a correction.

"De mortuis, aut bene, aut nihil."

He acted like the finest of men.

Like a captain.

Only be proud of your father.

He was brave and reliable. He stayed on the bridge till the end.

I'd rather he was a coward…

…and be with us still.

You're able to file a compensation claim

now that we've found his body.

It's a shame we found out that news from TV.

I know. I'm sorry.

Those vultures don't care about anything.

Once again, my sincerest condolences.

Have you called that lawyer?

He's accepted.

Hello, Captain.

Excuse me, Captain.

Is it true you're doing it? Being a judge for them, for the Chamber?

Yes.

I have to testify.

They say I'm there as an "interested party".

Yes, that's possible.

"Interested party"?

To me, that says defendant.

They summoned all the survivors. What for?

I think it's just a formality. They're the regulations, apparently.

I assume that's all it is.

Seen the papers?

-Reporters write whatever drivel… -No, but they're writing fucking bullshit!

The captain knew this would happen. It's what he stayed on the bridge for.

They'll drown us under a wave of shit.

There was a catastrophe and causes have to be determined.

Determine the causes?

What are you talking about? You know full well what happened.

The ballast system was out of order.

Gentlemen.

We know the system was out of order

and that the two engines weren't working as well.

We were being tossed around like a feather and there was nothing we could do.

That's what was happening out there! Those problems are what caused it.

And they were caused by Navica Ferries and you know that.

You have to say that at the hearing.

You must say all of it.

You must defend the good name of the captain, the crew, yourself!

It reflects on you too remember.

Your good name as well, remember.

You have to tell them everything.

Hey guys, look who it is!

Hey, Alek, there's a good boy. Looking after your mum again?

Can you cook and clean for me too?

PAWNSHOP

Wait outside, will you?

Uh-huh.

I'm telling you, baby You will never find another girl

In this heart of mine, oh-oh, oh!

Yeah…

This engraving it's got…

really lowers the value.

Hmm.

All right.

I'll take it anyway.

So, what do we have here?

A kettle, a juicer, a cassette player. So…

Hmm.

All together, for all of it, I can give you… 15 million złotys.

What?!

Is that all you can do?

We both know the stereo alone is worth that.

Okay, okay. Okay…

All right, my loss.

Hmm.

Twenty.

Take it.

Thanks for that.

Do you have a warranty?

I'm not sure about that.

I think it's a Swedish make.

Now I know.

That definitely explains it.

Swedish piece of shit.

Junkers is a better one. German.

That'll last you much longer.

Madam, put your money away, will you?

I know what happened out there.

I read it… in the paper.

They're not giving you anything.

And a boiler from that company…

…won't be cheap to get that's for sure.

-How much? -A Junkers?

Sixty million?

Take care of yourself. Goodbye.

All right. Thanks for everything.

NO COMPENSATION? DRUNK CREW ALLEGEDLY TO BLAME FOR HEWELIUSZ DISASTER

What absolute nonsense!

Reporters have such a vivid imagination.

Chairman, right now we can't heat our house.

The boiler broke down. The entire building is freezing.

How are we supposed to pay if they pin the blame on the crew?

How much do you need?

Sixty million.

Mariola, come in here for a moment, would you?

Mariola, call HR and tell them to expect Mrs Skirmuntt.

I'm authorising a payout of 60 million.

Is that clear?

Thank you.

-Good morning. -Morning, Madam.

-I'm sorry. I can't see at the moment. -Thank you.

I can't see anything available. Maybe Nowak'll be able to fill in for you?

Okay.

Ah, Mrs Ułasiewicz.

-Halina, we'll finish later. Okay? -Yes, sure.

Please, have a seat.

-Would you like some coffee? -No, thank you.

Sorry to bother you. I know how busy you are.

I wanted to have a quick chat about Agnieszka.

Of course, yes.

I'm going, for a little while, to Pomerania, to the chamber.

And during that time, Agnieszka will be staying with my cousins.

If anything should happen at school, please call me on this number.

It's lovely that Agnieszka will join us again.

What are you talking about?

Well, Agnieszka's not been in school for the past couple of weeks.

I thought you knew.

-Hey! -Hi.

What are you up to?

Sorting through photos. How was school?

Okay.

Gabrysia copied Guns N' Roses for us.

I know that for two weeks you haven't been at school.

What?! That's not true.

I spoke to your headmistress today.

I don't wanna talk about it.

Tell me what's going on, Aga.

You know what's going on.

My dad died and I didn't get to say goodbye to him or anything.

And at school?

I'm just some kind of leper who's ignored all the time.

I'm the daughter of the captain who got pissed and drowned people!

-What are you talking about? -That's what's said about me, Mum.

And Kaczy?

The truck driver's son from Heweliusz?

He's started threatening me daily.

I can't go back there.

I'm begging you to transfer me to a different school.

I understand.

But I need to go away for a while. You'll stay with Hania and Janusz.

Study at home with them.

But you'll have to return to school after.

Your father didn't kill anybody

and we will always defend his good name.

As soon as Markiewicz shows up, let me know.

I'll come back down and fetch him later, okay?

Excuse me, Officer. Any news?

I'm sorry madam, but you know it's confidential information.

There's no need to be like that.

I just want to talk to her. Where's the harm in that?

But not a word to anyone that you got it from me.

No, of course.

Thank you.

What are you doing here?

I came to talk about your son.

My son?

-What has he done? -It concerns the both of us.

There is nothing that concerns both of us.

For a while now, your son has been bullying my daughter.

-He's been acting aggressively. -I've got no doubt he was provoked.

Provoked? How?

-Please don't play dumb with me, okay? -I'm not playing dumb.

-Why are you tormenting us? -We're not causing the torment!

You're forgetting it wasn't my husband that got yours killed.

-It was the other way around. -My husband did not kill anybody.

It was an accident. The sea can be unpredictable.

I heard they'd been drinking.

-That's not true. -It's all over the news.

Andrzej is innocent and we all have to have faith in him.

I'm sorry for your tragedy, but I have my own.

Just leave my child out of it.

Hold on a second!

My husband wasn't buried with full honours, remember?

No salutes at the memorial.

And no orchestra.

And I… I had to pay for everything

and I can't manage it.

You're not the one who just yesterday was begging at a pawnbrokers,

just to be able to get enough cash to feed us.

What would you suggest is the best thing to tell my son?

That the people who killed his father are the heroes?

That they deserve salutes?

Or maybe even medals? Well?

All that bothers me is you fucking leave my daughter alone.

That's all I expect.

Did you enjoy the show?

Well, it's over now.

SZCZECIN

Mrs Ułasiewicz?

Ignacy Budzisz.

-Pleasure. -Hello.

Let me take your suitcase.

-And this as well? -No, thank you.

Then let's go.

Please, this way.

It's just over here.

Thank you for letting me stay at your home.

It'll be a nice change for me as well.

I've been a widower for three years.

So I live on my own.

Besides, under current circumstances,

it might be better for you to save money.

Because this case won't end after just one or two hearings.

Here, this will be your room.

Thank you.

Will you try some?

Walnut liqueur.

Please, have a seat.

It's from the walnut tree in my garden.

Do you like it?

It's very good. A little strong.

It's liquid courage.

You'll need all your strength for sure.

Please.

This trial will end up…

…a witch hunt no less.

And no doubt you'll hear awful and hurtful things about your husband.

The Chamber has been selected for his incrimination.

Supposedly, it's captains

who are willing to defend the good name of their colleagues,

but actually they'll just be protecting their jobs.

Each one of them is involved in this case somehow.

One of them worked on Heweliusz.

Someone else didn't save it.

Another person authorised it to sail.

I'd say,

therefore, that it's unlikely

to result in a big payout.

Your husband, after all, was the one who commanded the vessel.

And the captain, second only to God above,

is always partly responsible for a catastrophe.

Although in this particular case,

I do think that God is much more to blame.

Money isn't important.

I only want to defend the good name of my husband.

Well said.

And that's what we'll do.

YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND

We're outside City Hall in Stargard.

As you can see, a large crowd is gathering.

Everyone is getting impatient, waiting for any news.

Perhaps today we'll see a breakthrough.

Here we see the captain's wife.

-Mrs Ułasiewicz! -Over here!

One photo! Look at the camera!

Mrs Ułasiewicz, the people would like to know…

We're not disclosing any information

till the end of the trial. Please respect that.

Mrs Ułasiewicz, your husband was drunk. Is this true, do you know?

All I can say is that

repeating all of this false information

about Captain Ułasiewicz allegedly being drunk

is defamation.

And defamation deserves to be prosecuted.

-One more comment! -One last question!

Mrs Ułasiewicz!

-Mm! -Good morning, Kubara.

A very warm welcome to you all, gentlemen.

-Good morning, Professor. -Good morning.

I'm so glad you agreed to preside over this case.

We're grateful you could be here.

-You've met before, haven't you? -Yeah.

Piotr, I don't know if you know each other. Professor Pyzel.

Eminent authority on international maritime law,

and the author of many papers on accident procedures, of course.

Henio, that's enough of that.

The truth is better.

We spent years together doing athletics at university, and so…

as a result, we sank more than one bottle together, so to speak.

Ah, perfect.

Here's the most important person, our stenographer.

Please meet Barbara. Professor Pyzel.

-Pleasure to meet you. -Barbara Bożych.

Hello.

So, enough of that.

Great to meet you all, but now we must see to our duty.

Ten minutes to go.

Er, the gown.

Gown, gown, gown…

Morning.

Hello.

-Morning. -Morning.

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to the Maritime Chamber session in Stargard Szczeciński.

We'll be investigating

what actually happened during the catastrophic problem

on the Jan Heweliusz.

Please allow me to introduce

one of our lay judges,

Captain Kubara.

Thank you very much, Presiding Judge.

Ladies and gentlemen, before we begin the hearings,

I'd like to, with the permission of the Presiding Judge,

allow the current Chairman of Navica Ferries, er…

the shipowner of Jan Heweliusz,

Mr Wiesław Kosiorek, to come forward.

He has asked us if he could read out a statement.

Chairman, the floor is yours.

It was a day like any other for our company.

Nothing could prepare us

for it ending as the most tragic in its history.

If I could have another chance,

I would never, repeat, never,

have allowed Jan Heweliusz to set sail.

But it's worth remembering that we have a mission.

We are a ferry shipowner.

We connect countries, facilitate transportation.

To construction sites, we deliver building materials.

We carry people to work and presents to children.

We continue to shoulder as much as we can to keep the world going.

On the, uh…

On the Heweliusz, those who died weren't my employees.

They were my friends.

I'm sorry…

Therefore, any insinuation that the blame lies with the shipowner

for failing to ensure proper standards on the ferry

will be treated as a heartless attack on their memory

and the company to which they devoted the best years of their lives,

and which was like a family to them.

All I care about is finding the truth of what happened.

And remember truth must be objective

and not convenient.

I am here at your disposal.

I'm here to help everybody.

I'm not shirking responsibility either.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your time today, Chairman,

and for your statement.

And next,

it falls to the Chamber

to call the first interested party.

Mr… Marek Celej.

Excuse me. I don't understand in what capacity I've been called here.

You are called here as an interested individual.

So, is that to say I'm being accused or not?

Mr Celej, we're the ones asking questions as I'm sure you appreciate.

Yes. I've no idea what I've been charged with though?

Mr Celej, please calm down.

This is outrageous.

I should be the one bringing charges.

Because on that ship that night, I lost 300 million.

-And you think nine million's enough! -Officer Celej, this is not a bazaar!

It's a human tragedy we're discussing.

About the death of our families.

Feeling a little calmer now, are you?

Excellent.

In that case, please state your full name for the record.

Jan Heweliusz's struggle with the storm,

which ravaged the Baltic Sea

on the night of January 13th, 1993,

ended in the early…

The storm, a 12 on the Beaufort scale,

capsized the vessel in just a few minutes.

The crew didn't even manage to launch the lifeboats.

The force of the wind was approximately 180 kilometres an hour.

What's more, the ferry wreckage itself is still yet to be fully explored…

Good morning.

What are you doing here?

Maybe we can talk, if you like?

Alek, turn it down a bit for now.

Thank you.

-Oh, thank you. -No worries.

So?

I think we could, uh, really help each other out.

How?

You just need to testify in the Chamber that your husband complained

how drunk everyone was.

That, uh, the captain was picking fights,

kicking off with other crew,

running around naked, or…

I mean, let's say half-naked

but mainly running around.

You think he ran around naked?

Hmm. Concrete evidence would be really good.

Mm… My husband didn't mention anything like that.

Maybe he did, maybe he didn't.

Someone drowned your husband.

It's simple really.

If you can help us,

I'll make sure we do the same.

Is that so?

You're expecting me to lie for you?

You know that no one in this case will end up blame free.

I don't understand.

I assume you realise what your husband really did for work?

-Well, he was a driver. -And what did he deliver?

I don't know. What did he deliver?

I can't tell you that.

But it wasn't kids' diapers

or animal food.

I'll confirm that.

Plus, the truck he drowned wasn't his, apparently?

Looks like time's up.

Do we have a deal then?

Will we help each other?

Hmm?

Yeah.

Thanks for the coffee.

According to one of the theories,

the ship started to take on water

through the leaking stern gate.

That lead to the tragedy.

Do you agree with this statement?

Anybody who sails on ROROs

has experienced that during a storm more water pours in from the sky

than would ever leak in through a tiny hole.

Besides, water drains off straightaway, which you gentlemen should be aware of.

So none of that's an explanation for the stability loss

that happened to the ferry out there that night.

Order, please. Quieten down.

Please remain quiet, everyone. Please calm down.

But I've no doubt you'll agree

that Captain Ułasiewicz crashing into the Astad wharf that day,

erm, most likely contributed to the catastrophe.

Your Honour,

would you please remind the lay judge

not to suggest answers to the interested party?

Counsel, I don't remember giving you the floor.

And refrain from telling me what I'm supposed to do.

And anyway, you're not Mr Celej's representative, are you?

Mr Celej didn't even have time to find a representative,

as when he found out that he was an interested party,

there wasn't enough time.

And I'm here to defend the good name of Captain Ułasiewicz.

All right. Now sit down, would you?

Moving on. So, as I understand it,

on that fateful day,

your departure was delayed by the repair of the stern gate?

Why are you so fucking obsessed with the gate?

Language, Mr Celej.

We weren't delayed by that.

Other reasons delayed departure.

The captain said that we had to wait to leave port.

Why was that?

We were waiting for late-arriving transport.

And we realised during that time if more trucks were loaded onto the ferry,

that meant that it would be overloaded,

as we were already at our weight limit.

The Captain ordered us all

to halt loading.

Go ahead.

Was this, erm, an unusual situation?

Pretty usual for ferries to be overloaded.

Uh, this time the loading was under supervision though.

Supervised by the military.

-What on earth were soldiers doing there? -Order! I demand order!

By "soldiers" you're talking about customs officers, yeah?

No, regular soldiers.

Just plain-clothed military soldiers.

During the evacuation, one of them ran into me

and said he was a courier for the military.

He was the one supervising the loading.

-Pardon me, judge. -A military courier?

I don't think this subject is relevant to the point of today's hearing

so I suggest we move on.

-This is important. These are new facts. -Indeed, um…

-Ladies and gentlemen. -A question…

-On account of everyone being tired… -I'd like to ask a question, may I?

-It being late in the day… -I'd like to ask…

Captain Binter,

it is definitely time to adjourn and come back tomorrow.

Thank you, everyone.

Mr Celej, you're free to go.

What's your opinion? Do you think we can do anything?

Like what?

No, he's already spilled the beans.

Tell her to give you the transcript.

Er, Barbara, pass the transcript, will you?

Your Honour, why did you interrupt the hearing?

Because the interested party's reflections on the situation were not relevant.

Were they not?

The information about the soldiers could be crucial.

-What was their involvement? -From here.

Starting from paragraph 23, all of this is redundant.

It's completely irrelevant to the matter.

-Of course. -Those bits can be crossed out.

But it's an official document.

That's not right. What are we doing here?

-I thought we were investigating! -Piotr…

We just think the last section of Celej's testimony

doesn't add anything new to the case, that's all.

They had soldiers managing the loading of the ferry

and you want to hush that?

What's going on here?

Piotr, don't push it.

Don't push it.

-Oh, Zosia. -Oh, good evening, Captain.

I'd like to see the consignment notes

from the day of the catastrophe.

-Yeah, sure. -Thank you.

Here you are.

-Thank you, Zosia. -Coffee?

No, thanks. I'll only be a second.

STEEL, CHARCOAL, FURNITURE

DECLARED WEIGHT OF LOADED WAGONS

TOTAL DECLARED WEIGHT

Oh, holy fuck.

Thanks again, Zosia.

-Goodbye, Captain. -Goodbye.

Ah, Piotr.

Don't you have a life?

Hi! Sorry, I'm in a hurry.

-This is for Borchólski. -All right.

What was he doing?

Just looking over the consignment notes from Heweliusz.

NAVICA FERRIES

Good evening.

Good evening.

-Is the chairman available? -No. He's at the television station.

Television? What's he doing on television?

I don't know. It's to do with the trial, I guess.

Chairman, what could you tell us on a personal note?

Not as a chairman, but as a human being.

This is my personal tragedy.

To be honest with you,

I don't think I'll ever fully recover from what happened at that time.

I knew those people.

I know their families.

We were all close.

I'm sorry.

Of course, it's understandable to feel like that.

I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say.

This must be very hard for you.

-Who are you here for? -Sorry?

Who are you here for?

Uh…

-Thank you very much. -No problem. Bye.

-Thank you once again. -Thank you as well.

I really hope all of that came out okay.

Of course.

Oh, excuse me. I must go now. Goodbye.

Goodbye. And thank you.

Hi, Piotr.

What brings you here?

What was being transported by Heweliusz?

All sorts. Same as always.

You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Is that why they departed so late?

They were delayed repairing the stern gate.

-Really? -Really.

And why was the actual load heavier than what had been declared officially?

-It's often a little over, isn't it! -A little isn't 30 tons!

Why had soldiers been sent there?

I don't know anything about them.

Stop the fucking bullshitting, Wiesław.

Whatever you know, tell me.

You were transporting weapons, weren't you?

Heweliusz was carrying weapons. That's why Kowalik sent divers down to it.

Will you fucking shut up, Piotr?

Seriously! Are you insane?

We both know the walls have ears.

I've no idea what they transported.

Do you understand me? No idea. I'm just the chairman.

And remember, Navica Ferries belongs to the state.