The Poseidon Explosion

A ship catches fire in the harbour. There is ammonium nitrate in its hold. The cargo runs to thousands of tonnes. If the ship is abandoned the fire will spread. If it spreads the city is in danger. There is a steel works nearby as well. Firefighters and seamen go out to the ship. What follows is an effort that runs for hours. The film is built around it. Behind the story is a real event. On 10 January 1971 a ship burned in the port of Galați, the Vrachos, carrying three thousand seven hundred tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Ioan Grigorescu wrote the screenplay and Theodor Grigoriu the music. The film took a diploma at the Moscow Film Festival. Radu Beligan, Gheorghe Dinică and Toma Caragiu appear in the hundred and twelve minute film, a Romanian production Mircea Drăgan finished in 1973.