14 JANUARY 16 MINUTES BEFORE THE MAYDAY CALL
Why are we still listing?
Zajdel, what's with the anti-heeling tanks?
What's going on?
- No idea, - Then go and check!
The list is increasing,
How many degrees?
Twenty and rising,
Attention, passengers and crew members!
- What's going on? - Captain speaking,
We need to abandon ship,
I repeat, we need to abandon ship,
Proceed immediately to muster stations!
Fucking hell!
What's going on?
Call the engine room! Ask about the thrusters,
Engine room! Report on the thrusters!
This is Engine, The shaft generator on one is down!
The shaft generator for thruster one is down!
Call the Karkonosze!
Karkonosze! Karkonosze! This is Heweliusz!
KARKONOSZE FERRY BRIDGE 4:36 AM
Heweliusz, we read you,
I’ve got a 30-degree list,
I'm sounding the alarm to abandon ship,
I repeat, I’ve got a 30-degree list, I'm sounding the alarm to abandon ship,
What's your position?
Heweliusz, this is Karkonosze,
Fuck!
Where are you?
What's your position? Are you north or south of Arkona?
Wait, there's a problem with the radar,
Engage the thrusters, Turn her side on to the wind,
The shaft generator's down!
The list's too severe, I can't right her!
So, what now?
We're issuing a mayday call,
Fuck!
Thirty-five!
- How are the engines? - Working hard but holding,
Trouble is, we have a propeller above water and about to jam,
- And the thrusters? - They're okay,
But thruster one's generator is down,
The ballast tanks?
I think they're blocked,
Looks like they're near Kolliker,
- Should we head back? - To where, exactly?
Andrzej, give me your position! Andrzej!
Waldek, what the fuck is our position?
The radar's fucked!
The list is too heavy, I can't see the land!
- What's going on, Zajdel? - It's not moving!
Won't fucking budge,
- Bridge, the valves are stuck, - No signal!
- Fuck! - Try the other side of the bulkhead!
Nothing's working,
- What's going on? - Let's get the fuck out of here!
But, Captain, 60 miles south-west of Kolliker is land!
What do we do?
Captain?
Maintain course, We don't turn back,
And Heweliusz?
We don't know where they are,
We can assume they're east of Arkona,
Sixty miles east? On the island of Bornholm, then?
I won't risk our safety on supposition!
Maintain course for Świnoujście!
- We're done for! - Like fuck we are!
SASSNITZ, GERMANY
14 JANUARY, 6:10 PM
JAN HEWELIUSZ FERRY
There's nobody here,
Nobody?
What about Waldek? Waldek Skrzypczyński?
My friend,
Waldek Skrzypczyński,
He was on the ship with me, How is he?
He died,
In the port, He had a heart attack,
- Take it easy, - Oh god,
You haven't slept enough,
You need more rest,
Come on,
WARSAW
Your father will want to talk to you later,
Haven't you had enough beatings?
Mum, that cow has it in for me,
No, she doesn't, And don't say cow, You're just causing trouble,
- Why did you block the toilet? - It wasn't me,
- Hey, Aluś, - Hey, guys,
- Got any Blaupunkts going spare? - Might do,
Man's out walking with his mum again,
You'll all end up in jail, Mark my words,
Hello, Mrs Kaczkowska,
What have you done now?
We need to talk,
Has something happened?
May we go inside?
Of course,
We didn't even know anything had happened,
When will we be able to see him?
They'll be brought back to Poland in two days,
Someone will drive you to Świnoujście,
Your husband's been very lucky,
We're the lucky ones,
Your coffee, Please,
SZCZECIN, POLAND NAVICA FERRIES HEADQUARTERS
They've been calling all day, Families, press, Everyone,
The president told me not to answer, because they let rip at me
as if I'm to blame for this entire disaster,
All right, but at least take it off the hook or something,
You were lucky it wasn't your shift, eh?
Such a tragedy, Who'd have thought?
I saw our legal adviser, Ms Mentzel, just two days ago,
She came for the paperwork for the Stockholm conference,
You know she was meant to take a different ferry?
Our competitor's,
Don't worry, Wiesław, We won't let you guys go under,
Oh, Piotr, Bye!
Hello, Piotr,
Come in,
Have a seat,
You know,
when they made me president of the company,,,
I thought to myself,
perfect retirement gig,
Peace and quiet, Good money too,
What could possibly go wrong?
What could happen?
Tell me, what the fuck could happen on a fucking short route to Ystad?
I don't know,
I don't know how it went so tits up,
Have you slept at all?
Listen,,,
I've got a job for you,
The difficult kind,
You're to go and see Jola,
Take care of her,
Inform her officially, on my behalf and that of Navica Ferries,
that Andrzej is dead,
Offer her our condolences,
You've known each other a long time, It's for the best,
And listen, tell her,,,
that she can count on our full support,
We'll look after her financially,
She's not to worry, Not in the slightest,
What about the list of survivors?
We're still compiling it,
And,,,
Ania Mentzel?
Hi, love, I'm in Świnoujście,
A minor malfunction's put us a bit behind schedule,
The weather's been awful these last few days,
Must be because I left Baba Yaga in the car,
Yesterday, a squall hit us so hard
we rammed into the wharf with the stern,
The lads are trying to fix the damage now,
I hate sailing on the Heweliusz in these conditions,
They've done fuck all about fixing the propulsion,
Anyway, tell Aga I've got the Daim bars, like she asked,
But she needs to work harder in English,
- Maybe we can go skiing when I get back? - Andrzej!
Yeah, I'm coming!
Record the Trójka Radio chart for me, will you?
There's a blank tape by the basket,
I have to go now,
I love you both, Give everyone a kiss from me, Hania and Janusz too,
See you in five days, Sending you lots of kisses!
Hi, love, I'm in Świnoujście,
A minor malfunction's put us a bit behind schedule,
The weather's been awful these last few days,
Must be because I left Baba Yaga in the car,
Yesterday, a squall hit us so hard,,,
Hello, Jola,
So, they sent you, huh?
You know what they did to bearers of bad news in ancient times?
Anyway, tell Aga I've got the Daim bars, like she asked,
But she needs to work harder in English,
Maybe we can go skiing when I get back?
I took it from my cousin,
He always left a message for us before he went to sea,
Our little tradition,
Give everyone a kiss from me, Hania and Janusz too,
See you in five days, Sending you lots of kisses!
It's okay,
ŚWINOUJŚCIE, POLAND
- Good morning, - Morning,
- Hello, gentlemen, - Morning,
Clear?
I think so,
- You think or you're sure? - I'm sure,
All right, Thanks,
- Morning, - Morning,
Right, let's make a start,
Gentlemen, we're in the circle of trust, so to speak,
Whatever we say here mustn't leave this room,
Understood?
We need to do everything in our power to save the company,
It's well-known, A brand,
A Polish brand,
Frankly, you could say
Navica Ferries is Poland's ambassador to the world,
And there are jobs at stake too,
Lots of jobs, Five bloody thousand of them,
Is that not so, Mr Cyganik?
- It's 5,733, to be precise, - Right, A shitload,
If you include the workers' families,
Navica Ferries puts food on the table for about twenty thousand people,
Probably more, I'd say,
You hear that, gentlemen?
With unemployment running at 20%,
Even the highlanders are on strike,
Are we, as leaders of this country,
really going to kick all those people to the kerb over one fucking ferry?
You all know what social responsibility means?
It means choosing the lesser evil, Plain and simple,
This government can't afford to make matters worse,
or create new problems,
It's our job to solve problems,
- That's right, - Yes,
This is Pomerania, People protest at the drop of a hat,
Bartuś, some water, please,
Bottom line,,,
we need to save the ferry operator,
But how?
Mr Cyganik, your thoughts?
If the operator's found guilty, its assets will be used as compensation,
It'll be paying off the victims' families until 2100,
Meaning?
Meaning the captain's to blame,
Is that it?
Ułasiewicz?
No, Fucking Nemo,
Apparently, over the radio you told Ułasiewicz
how to right the Heweliusz,
But he capsized it,
What are you suggesting?
That he did it deliberately?
For fuck's sake, gentlemen, Let's be honest,
We all know how wretched that ship was,
She'd heel in the slightest breeze, A toddler has better stability,
Captain Kubara, in a hurry to join the dole queue, are we?
- Right, - Gentlemen, none of that matters now,
We have London's backing,
If the captain and crew are at fault,
the insurers will pay out,
That's how it works,
We need some of our own on the panel,
Preferably someone with clout,
Fortunately, the law allows it,
I'll talk to him,
We could use Binter too, He sailed on the Heweliusz,
He's young, Won't be seen as part of the old boy's club,
And if he refuses?
Relax,
Piotr is a reasonable guy,
Do we know the death toll?
- We're working on it, - What's taking so long?
It's hardly the Titanic,
He sailed with me for five years,
I trained him,
I didn't know his position,
Where was I meant to look?
We all respected Andrzej, Liked him,
But what's done is done,
Now we need to look after the living,
What were they transporting?
How should I know?
Besides, it doesn't matter now,
What matters is that commie bastard has a filing cabinet full of secrets,
On every one of us,
You included,
- Are you threatening me? - Oh, come on,
It's not like you only carried marmalade on the Karkonosze,
Just think of it as safeguarding your reputation,
And your grandchildren's opinion of you,
Of all of us,
Fuck you,
Jola, Kosiorek assured me you won't be left high and dry,
He'll make sure you're financially secure,
You know what Andrzej said in his message?
That the propulsion was overdue for repair,
And that in winds like that, the ferry's unstable,
Jola, I know all that,
But it's done now, That ship has sailed,
- What did you just say, Piotrek? - I'm sorry,
Poor choice of words,
I just mean you can count on me,
Andrzej was my friend, That's really why I'm here,
To promise you my support,
If you need anything,
I'll be here for you,
If they try to pin this on Andrzej, I won't allow it, Do you understand?
I won't allow it,
Hi, Agnieszka,
Hi,
The ambassador wasn't able to come in person,
but he wishes you a speedy recovery,
Thank you,
You do have some kind of documentation, I take it?
Documents?
How could I? I have nothing,
Right,
In that case, let me take your photo,
just so you can cross the border, all right?
How about a little smile?
Great!
So you won't have problems at the border, Your family will be waiting,
Here are my details, You know, just in case,
And a gift,
From us,
A little liquid courage,
Congratulations,
Tomorrow at 2:00 pm, you'll be transported back to Poland,
Oh, thank you very much,
Thank you,
You were on the bridge that night, right?
Do you remember anything from the disaster?
Right, Goodbye,
Doctor Neumann!
Doctor Neumann,
Yes?
Where's my immersion suit?
- Your immersion suit? - Yes,
Probably in storage, Why?
Could you fetch it for me?
What for?
I need to check something,
Yes, okay,
Got there just in time,
Thank you,
It's torn,
Torn, It's torn,
Is that significant?
Yes,
At sea,,,
when the ferry capsized,,,
I saw myself,,, from behind,
As if I'd left my body,
And I saw this strap, But I couldn't have known, you see?
I couldn't have known,
A year ago,,,
A year ago, a man was admitted after an accident,
An ambulance driver,
in a critical condition,
When he came to briefly,
he started raving about a car jack,
Saying that at the moment of impact, a jack fell out of the rear doors,
He couldn't stop talking about it,
What happened?
He died,
I don't know why,
but I went to the police station and asked them
if they'd found a car jack at the scene of the accident,
And they had,
In a field, 70 metres from the ambulance,
You see?
He couldn't have known,
SZCZECIN, POLAND
Great, you're here, They're waiting for you,
"They"? Who else?
Oh, hello,
- Hi, Piotr, - Hi,
Have a seat,
So, Piotr, how did it go with Jola?
It went,
Right,
I really feel sorry for her,
I remember when she and Andrzej came to Mozambique with us,
They'd been married a few years by then, but they still acted
like love-struck newlyweds,
Yes, Nice people,
Still, there's no changing what's happened,
Listen, Piotr,
We wanted to speak with you in confidence,
As we all know, this matter is rather delicate,
There's a good chance we all go down with this ship,
Me, you, the minister, and around 6,000 innocent people,
Unfortunately, all the evidence suggests Ułasiewicz was at fault,
It wouldn't be his first accident,
But the inquiry hasn't happened yet,
The facts are plain to see,
He left port too late,
Didn't keep close to land,
Then he made an odd turn
and crossed the wind, with the ship heeling to port,
I mean, you saw the rudder position yourself,
That ship was poorly designed,
Treating the upper deck with concrete had made her unstable,
She had more flaws than merits,
Yet you sailed her well enough,
Oh, come on!
Oh, thank you very much,
Thank you,
But that's not what we wanted to talk about,
- The inquiry will decide who's at fault, - I hope so,
Quite, And we'd like you and Kubara to participate as lay judges,
Whose idea was that?
We believe the panel needs seasoned seamen
whose reputations are spotless, Honest, objective men,
You know the Heweliusz, and Kubara was at sea that night,
Moreover, as lay judges, you won't be summoned as witnesses,
So, as a lay judge, what would I actually do?
Nothing,
Speak the truth, Fight for justice,
- And who'll be presiding? - Oh,,,
All in good time, No need to worry over that,
What do you say, Piotr? Will you help us?
I'm sorry, I need time to think, You've caught me by surprise,
Well, think it over, Piotr,
But bear in mind, you're currently without a ship,
Wait, that's,,,
Why say such things? I mean, really,
Sit down, Piotr,
Piotr knows perfectly well what to do,
Cheer up, Piotr!
Don't you worry,
We've weathered worse storms, haven't we?
I know Ułasiewicz meant a lot to you,
But someone has to clean up this mess,
Don't worry about Jola, None of this will come out of her pocket,
And we'll use the insurance money to build a new ferry,
Modern, luxurious, computerized,
Please excuse me, I was hoping to visit my parents,
Give them my regards,
Thank you,
I don't know, I have my doubts,
Did you enjoy it?
How about some wine?
I can't, Mum, I have to drive back tonight,
Why don't you come and visit us more often?
You know why, I've got a lot of work,
It looks like you'll have more time now,
So it does,
Time to have a family at last, maybe,
How about some yeast cake? Your favourite,
Dad,,,
They want to blame Ułasiewicz,
They want me on the panel,
Who does?
Kowalik,
I see he's a better politician than a sailor,
What should I do?
Steer well clear,
What? What are you saying?
It'd be better if the panel had someone who knew Andrzej on it,
Here,
Thank you,
"When your ship fails you,
your whole life seems to fail you,"
"World", not "life",
Yes, come in,
- Is everything okay? - Yes,
Do you have a cigarette?
I can't sleep,
Thanks,
How come you're here all the time?
It's my job,
I know, but you must work in shifts,
Let's just say you're a special case,
What about your family?
I don't have one,
Good night,
When I was in the water,,,
looking at the sky,,,
you know what the worst part was?
What?
There was no one,,,
to tell you where to go,
No one to tell you everything would be okay,
So they all died, No one helped them,
Everything will be okay,
It will be okay,
Everything's going to be fine,
Okay?
It's going to be okay,
WARSAW 16 JANUARY
- Good morning, - Morning,
Morning,
Careful with the soup,
Will we make it? When does my husband get there?
This afternoon, Relax, we're fine,
He was clearly born lucky,
Did you know the captain lived near here, on Drozda?
What's that Kenwood worth?
Thank you,
- Goodbye, - Goodbye,
Thank you,
Goodbye,
- All the best, - Thank you,
- Goodbye, - Our hero!
Thank you,
Good luck,
- Thank you, really! - Get well soon,
Thank you and goodbye,
- Goodbye! - Thank you,
Bye,
I'll escort you, in case of any trouble,
The crossing in Świnoujście is usually closed at this time,
but they agreed to open it specially for you
so you wouldn't have to queue at Kołbaskowo,
- Come on, in you get, - Thank you,
Hurry now, We don't have all day,
Let's go,
Thank you! Goodbye!
What are we waiting for?
This blue van here, Go ahead, gentlemen,
Hey!
Krzyś! Lulu!
Hi, Witek!
Jesus!
- Oh my God! - Dear God!
I thought,,, Jesus Christ!
- We won't go down without a fight, eh? - Lulu!
How did you get out?
Krzyś saved us, with all his bloody Hail Marys,
- All right, All right! - Marek!
You're alive!
- Witek! - And you, Ryszard!
We're fucking alive!
Bloody hell! Zbysio and Tadzio too!
- Hi, Witek! - Hey!
How did this happen?
Fuck knows, It's a miracle,
The Germans kept botching it,
It took them four tries to pull me out, Four!
But the powers that be in Poland came through for us!
- Back in style! - A toast to those Hail Marys!
- Come on! - Have some!
The missus can hardly mind this time!
- It's on the government! Drink up! - Oh fuck,
POLISH-GERMAN BORDER
They were due 20 minutes ago,
The orchestra will freeze their nuts off,
Relax, They're used to the cold,
They play in the cathedral every week for the bishop,
Here they come!
Right, let's begin,
Back in Poland, at last!
Hello!
- It's all okay, - Marek!
- Marta! - You're here at last, Welcome!
Excuse me!
Excuse me,
Navica Ferries won't abandon you!
Excuse me,
Got your Dad back, huh? Here he is!
Where's my husband?
What do you mean?
I mean, where is he?
- He must be here, - But he's not,
What's going on?
Lady says her husband's not here,
- What do you mean? - I know what my husband looks like!
Fuck, Kazio!
Come here a minute,
Lady says her husband's not here,
What's his surname?
Kaczkowski,
"Kaczkowski," It's right here,
There he is, over there,
That's not my husband,
What do you mean, not your husband?
That's not him,
But these are all the survivors,
That,,, that's not him,
It's not him!
Subtitle translation by: Łukasz Stanisław Dutka and Emma Garner