Der Untergang der Pamir (2006)

After his wife dies, boatswain Acki Lüders stays ashore so he can be with his eight-year-old daughter. Together with his mother-in-law, he runs a farming operation in Schleswig-Holstein that he dislikes. His friend Hans Ewald persuades him to come to Hamburg and sign on aboard the Pamir. There, however, they discover that the strict and unyielding Captain Ludwig Lewerenz is in command instead of the regular captain they had hoped for. Tensions often arise among the three men, especially because each has different ideas about how to raise and train the young cadets, who are between 16 and 18 years old. When the ship reaches Buenos Aires, the dockworkers are on strike. This costs the Pamir’s crew time and causes the shipping company a financial loss. Captain Lewerenz, under pressure from Oldenburg, the shipowner, orders the crew to stow the barley intended as cargo not in sacks but by shovelling it into the hold. He also manages to secure military assistance through the shipping company’s local agent. The way the cargo is loaded makes the Pamir unstable. Lewerenz worsens the situation by having the deep tanks filled with additional barley. Despite warnings from his first officer, Ewald, the Pamir puts to sea. They are caught in Hurricane Carrie, which the ship cannot withstand. It sinks, and 80 sailors—young cadets, officers, and seamen—lose their lives. Six men survive.