MS Jan Heweliusz was a Norwegian-built Polish ferry named after astronomer Johannes Hevelius that served on the route Ystad–Świnoujście. It was built in Norway in 1977 and was owned by Polish Ocean Lines and operated by its subsidiary company Euroafrica Shipping Lines.

Polish Ocean Lines is a Polish commercial shipping company, with headquarters in Gdynia. The company was created in 1951 in a merger of three smaller shipping companies. Currently, PLO acts as a holding company for 12 other shipping companies.