A Stena Spirit ferry employee remembered what happened when a boy and his mother fell overboard.
The toddler fell into the water when the ship was sailing from the Swedish port of Karlskrona to the Polish port of Gdynia.
Tragically, both of them perished after his mother dove in after the boy to try to save him.
The ferry’s crew reportedly signalled for help and turned around to return to the area of their fall.
TVN24, a Polish outlet, spoke with a Stena Line Spirit worker
who described the instant reaction.
The staff member told the broadcaster: ‘There was an alarm and a message. The engines were immediately shut down. After a while, the captain announced that there was a man overboard.
‘We heard that these are not exercises. The launching of the lifeboat has begun. The search lasted almost two hours.’
Stena Line are co-operating with police as part of the investigation into the tragedy.
Ships and helicopters from Sweden and from NATO units that were in the area assisted in the rescue operation.
Once found, the 36-year-old mother and boy were transported separately by helicopter to a hospital in Karlskrona.
Anders Olsson, who was on the rescue helicopter that pulled the woman from the sea, told Swedish radio on Friday that she was ‘not responsive’ and first aid was administered to her.
Police spokesperson Mariusz Ciarka told local media that it was impossible to save the lives of the two, both of whom were Polish citizens.
He said: ‘Unfortunately, in the morning we received information from the Swedish side that we have to pass on this terrible news to the family, because both the boy and the woman are dead.’
The boy fell from a height of about 20 meters – 65 feet – off the Stena Line ferry, it has been reported.
‘At the moment we have no information whether this was due to a malfunction of the ferry,’ Stena Line spokesperson Agnieszka Zembrzycka told TVN 24.
‘We are cooperating with the police and other authorities that are appointed to explain the causes and circumstances of this event.’
Swedish police issued an appeal to Polish passengers via Poland’s state-run news agency PAP asking for information that could explain how the accident occurred.