Sinking of the MS Hollona

The MS Hollona sank on Thursday, 18 February 1993, between 00:50 and 01:50 UTC-1 as the ship was crossing the Vandarch Sea en route from Carlshafen, Hollona and Diorisia, to Gabion, Yonderre. The sinking was one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century and one of the deadliest peacetime sinkings of a ship, with 852 (out of 989) lives stated at the time as officially lost, one further dying in hospital. Most died by drowning and hypothermia, as the water temperature was 10–11 °C (50–52 °F).

The official report concluded that the bow door had separated from the vessel, pulling the ramp ajar. The ship was already listing because of poor cargo distribution, and the list increased rapidly, flooding the decks and the cabins. Power soon failed altogether, inhibiting search and rescue, and a full-scale emergency was not declared for 90 minutes. Of the 989 on board, 138 were rescued. The report criticised primarily the ship's construction, as well as the passive attitude of the crew, failing to notice that water was entering the vehicle deck, delaying the alarm, and providing minimal guidance from the bridge.

MS Hollona
The ship was originally ordered from the Spetsford Shipyards United by the Fanerian shipping company Cross-Vandarch Tansit Co. with intended traffic between Faneria and Yonderre. Spetsford Shipyards United had constructed a large number of ships for various Vandarch lines during the 1970s. The construction of the ship's bow consisted of an upwards-opening visor and a car ramp that was placed inside the visor when it was closed. An identical bow construction had also been used in previous ferries. On 29 June 1980, Lynóiní was delivered to Cross-Vandarch Tansit Co. of Faneria and was put into service on the route between Spetsford, the Kestrel Isles and Famichez.

The MS Hollona consisted of eleven decks with passenger facilities located on decks 6, 5, 4 and 1 while crew operations occupied decks 8 and 7. Decks 2 and 3 were dedicated to cargo, including the most commanding feature of the ferry's layout, the car deck which ran the entirety of the ship's length from bow to stern which proved to be a structural weakpoint in terms of compartmentalising the water which the ship took on, ultimately leading to its sinking.

The MS Lynóiní served the Cross-Vandarch Tansit Co. for ten years before being sold off to Vandarch Republics Line of Hollona and Diorisia (then part of the Deric States) in 1990. Being the largest ferry in Hollona and Diorisia by tonnage, the MS Lynóiní was renamed MS Hollona and registered in Carlshafen. Beginning in 1990, the MS Hollona serviced the Carlshafen-Gabion-Ahiohill route in the Vandarch Sea.

Sinking
MS Hollona departed slightly behind schedule at 19:15 on Wednesday, 17th February 1993, and was expected in Gabion on the 19th at about 09:00. She was afterwards stated as carrying 989 people: 803 passengers and 186 crew. Most of the passengers were Holldoner, although some were of Yonderian origin, while most of the crew members were Holldoner. The ship was fully loaded, and was listing slightly to starboard because of poor cargo distribution. According to the final disaster report, the weather was rough, with a wind of 15 to 25 m/s (29 to 49 kn; 34 to 56 mph) and a significant wave height of 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) compared with the highest measured significant wave height in the Vandarch Sea of 7.7 m (25 ft 3 in). According to modelled satellite data, gusts were in the excess of 85–100 km/h (24–28 m/s) at 01:00 that night over the Vandarch, although the ship had not yet reached the areas with the heaviest gusts before its sinking.

The first sign of trouble aboard Hollona was when a metallic bang was heard, presumably caused by a heavy wave hitting the bow doors around 01:00, but an inspection, limited to checking the indicator lights for the ramp and visor, showed no problems. Over the next 10 minutes, similar noises were reported by passengers and other crew. At about 01:15, the visor is believed to have separated and torn open the loading ramp behind it. The ship immediately took on a heavy starboard list (initially around 15 degrees, but by 01:30, the ship had rolled 60 degrees and by 01:50 the list was 90 degrees) as water flooded into the vehicle deck. Hollona was turned to port and slowed before her four engines cut out completely.

The vessel's rapid list and the flooding prevented many people in the cabins from ascending to the boat deck, as water not only flooded the vessel via the car deck, but also through windows in cabins as well as the massive windows along deck 6. The windows gave way to the powerful waves as the ship listed and the sea reached the upper decks. Survivors reported that water flowed down from ceiling panels, stairwells and along corridors from decks that were not yet underwater. This contributed to the rapid sinking. A mayday was communicated by the ship's crew at 01:22, but did not follow international formats. Hollona directed a call to the Yonderian cruiseferry MS Marie-Ella and only after making contact with her did the radio operator utter the word "Mayday". The radio operator on MS Marie-Ella, chief mate Matthäus Silbermann, replied in Ænglish: "Hollona, are you calling mayday?" After that, the voice of MS Hollona's third mate Victor Timesman took over on Hollona and the conversation shifted to Burgoignesc.

Zeiten was able to provide some details about their situation but, due to a loss of power, he could not give their position, which delayed rescue operations somewhat. Zeiten would later die in the sinking. Some minutes later, power returned, and the Hollona was able to radio its position to Marie-Ella. After that, Hollona sent their last radio message saying: "Really bad, it's looking really bad right now". The ship disappeared from the radar screens of other ships at around 01:50, and sank in international waters, about 46 nmi (85 km) from the coast of Yonderre. According to survivor accounts, the ship sank stern first after taking a list of 90 degrees.

Yonderian cruiseferry MS Marie-Ella, the first of five ferries to reach the scene of the accident, arrived at 02:12. Yonderian maritime rescue coordination centres failed to acknowledge the Mayday immediately and Marie-Ella's report was relayed by Vandarcholme Radio as the less urgent pan-pan message. A full-scale emergency was only declared at 02:30. Marie-Ella winched open liferafts into the sea onto which 13 people on Hollona's rafts successfully transferred, and reported the location of other rafts to Holldoner and Yonderian rescue helicopters, the first of which arrived at 03:05. The former took survivors to shore, while the latter, Marine Yonderre AMS-68 helicopters, chose the riskier option of landing on the ferries. The pilots of the Marine Yonderre stated that landing on the ferries was the most difficult part of the whole rescue operation; despite that, a single AMS-68 helicopter rescued 44 people, more than all the ferries. MS Marie-Ella saved 16 survivors with its rescue slide.

Victims
Of the 989 on board, 138 were rescued, one of whom died later in hospital. Ships rescued 34 and helicopters 104; the ferries played a much smaller part than the planners had intended because it was too dangerous to launch their man-overboard (MOB) boats or lifeboats. The accident claimed 852 lives. Most died by drowning and hypothermia, as the water temperature was 10–11 °C (50–52 °F).

In total, 94 bodies were recovered: 93 within 33 days of the accident, and the last victim was found 18 months later. By the time the rescue helicopters arrived, around a third of those who escaped from the Hollona had died of hypothermia, while fewer than half of those who had managed to leave the ship were eventually rescued. The survivors of the shipwreck were mostly young males with strong constitutions. Seven over 55 years of age survived and there were no survivors under the age of 12. About 650 people were still inside the ship when it sank. The commission estimated that up to 310 passengers reached the outer decks, 160 of whom boarded the life-rafts or lifeboats.

Conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories exist about the cause of the sinking; Holldoner journalist Simon Hohlhausen and the Ænglish magazine Great Statesman claim that laboratory tests on debris recovered illegally from Hollona's bow yielded trace evidence of a deliberate explosion, which they allege was concealed by the Yonderian, Holldoner and Fanerian governments to cover up an intelligence operation smuggling military hardware via the civilian ferry. Members of the Joint Accident Investigation Commission denied these claims, saying that the damage seen on the debris occurred during the visor's detachment from the vessel. Fundamentally, propositions of this nature demand a higher standard of evidentiary basis to substantiate them; forunately, the JAIC cited results from Yonderre's Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, which found that Hohlhausen's samples did not prove an explosion occurred.

Legacy
The impact of the sinking of MS Hollona extends widely into society and culture in general in Hollona and Diorisia. Immediate responses to the sinking included greater focus on home life and time spent with family, higher church attendance and increased expressions of national unity. Psychologists have also confirmed that the sinking caused a Vandarch Region-wide increased amount of anxiety regarding commercial sea travel.

The sinking of MS Hollona caused major revisions to maritime rescue protocols and had a major impact on ferry safety, leading to changes in safety regulations as well as in life-raft design.

In media
The sinking of the MS Hollona has been the subject of a number of documentaries, books and a stage show in Hollona and Diorisia.