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There are an estimated three million undiscovered
shipwrecks scattered on the oceans’ floor across the world, some of
which are thousands of years old. Even the figures for the known wrecks
are impressive. For example, the website Wrecksite.eu contains records
of more than 148,000 wrecks at the time of this writing. A large number
of shipwrecks are historically significant and protected under UNESCO as
underwater cultural heritage. Many are abandoned and remain either
submerged or grounded near beaches, sometimes gracefully, sometimes not,
rotting under the elements of nature. Some of them have turned into
tourist attractions because of the many photographic opportunities they
offer.
The most recent shipwreck that acquired much media attention was Costa
Concordia that turned turtle in the waters near Isola del Giglio, on the
western coast of Italy, in January 2012. The capsized ship drew
thousands of eager tourist to the area. Salvaging operations were
started on mid-2013 and are still on, and it won’t be long before the
ship is towed out of the bay.
Here are some spectacular wrecks that are worth visiting while they are
still there.
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World Discoverer
The MS World Discoverer was a cruise ship built in 1974, that made
periodic voyages to the Antarctic polar regions to allow its passengers
to observe ice floe movements. The vessel had a double hull construction
that provided protection for minor impacts. But the rock that punctured
the hull on April 30, 2000, was a large uncharted rock in Solomon
Islands. After the passengers were safely dispatched via a ferry, the
captain steered the ship into Roderick Bay and grounded it to avoid
sinking. By the time salvage companies got to it, the ship was ransacked
by the locals. The World Discoverer still sits in Roderick Bay on Nggela
Island with a 46° list. |
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Mediterranean Sky
Mediterranean Sky was originally called City of York when she was built
in 1952 in Newcastle, England. The Cruise liner departed London in
November 1953, and maintained its service until sold in 1971, when she
became the Mediterranean Sky. Her last voyage was in August 1996, when
she sailed from Brindisi to Patras.
Due to the companies’ financial situation, the Mediterranean Sky was
arrested in 1997, whilst in Patras. Two years later she was towed to
Eleusus Gulf in Greece, where she lay abandoned. In late 2002, the ship
began to take on water and started to tilt. In order to stop her
sinking, she was towed to shallow water and was grounded. In January
2003, Mediterranean Sky keeled over on her side where she remains
awaiting her fate. |
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MV Captayannis
The Captayannis was a Greek sugar-carrying vessel that sank in the River
Clyde in Scotland in 1974 after colliding with a BP tanker when a severe
gale hit the west coast. The tanker suffered no damage but her anchor
chains holed Captayannis allowing water to pour in. Captayannis's
captain tried to beach her in the shallow waters over the sandbank and
steered to the desired spot where she stuck fast. The ship rolled over
the next morning, and has lain there ever since. Most, if not all of her
more valuable metals and fittings have been removed by looters, leaving
little of the split-style superstructure.
Although the wreck lies in relatively shallow waters there has never
been any attempt to salvage the remains, as issues such as ownership and
insurance were never satisfactorily resolved. Through time Captayannis
has become home to marine life and birds. She is known to many locals
simply as the "sugar boat". |
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SS America
SS America was an ocean liner built in 1940. After a long career of more
than fifty years, the liner was sold in 1993 with the intention of being
refitted to become a five-star hotel ship off Phuket, in Thailand. It
was at this time she was renamed “American Star”, although she never
sailed by her new name. The ship was towed out of Greece towards the
Atlantic to be refitted, but a hundred days later the ship together with
the Ukrainian tugboat entered a thunderstorm. The tow lines broke and
all attempts to reattach the emergency tow lines proved unsuccessful.
The crew aboard American Star was rescued by helicopter but the ship was
left adrift. On January 18, the ship ran aground off the west coast of
Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.
Within the first 48 hours of grounding the pounding surf of the Atlantic
broke the ship in two just past the second funnel. The stern section
collapsed completely to port and sank in 1996, while the bow remained
intact. In November 2005, the port side of the bow section collapsed and
the hull to begin to break up. By 2007 the entire ship had collapsed and
fallen into the sea. Since then, what little remained has been slowly
disappearing beneath the waves. As of March 2013, the wreck is only
visible during low tide. |
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Olympia
The Olympic was a commercial ship that was driven ashore near the town
of Katapola, on Amorgos island in Greece, apparently by pirates, in 1979
while coming from Cyprus and heading for Greece. After an unsuccessful
attempt to pull the ship out of the gulf, it was abandoned there and
became one of Amargos Island’s most popular landmark.
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La Famille Express
The shipwreck of the La Famille Express lies off the southern waters of
Provo in the Turks and Caicos Islands, in the Caribbean Sea. The ship
was built in 1952 in Poland and a large part of its life serviced in the
Soviet Navy as the “Fort Shevchenko”, until 1999 when it was sold and
renamed “La Famille Express”. The circumstances of the wreck are not
clearly known, except for that it ran aground during the Hurricane
Frances in 2004. Nobody salvaged the ship so far and many parts fell
prey to looters. Right now, the ship is a great local landmark
attraction tourists coming to this area
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HMAS Protector
HMAS Protector was a large flat-iron gunboat purchased by the South
Australian government in 1884, for the purpose of defending the local
coastline against possible attacks in the aftermath of the ‘Russian
scare', of 1870s. She arrived in Adelaide in September 1884 and
subsequently served in the Boxer Rebellion, World War I and World War
II. During July 1943, Protector was requisitioned for war service by the
US Army. On the way to New Guinea and off Gladstone, she was damaged in
a collision with a tug and abandoned. The hull was subsequently taken to
Heron Island off the Queensland coast and later sunk for use as a
breakwater. Her rusting remains are still visible to this day.
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Evangelia
Evangelia was a merchant ship, constructed by the same shipyard which
built the Titanic, and launched on 28th of May, 1942 with the name of
"Empire Strength". Later she was known as "Saxon Star", "Redbrook" and
eventually "Evangelia".
In 1968, during a night of dense fog, Evangelia sailed incredibly close
to the shoreline and became grounded near the shoreline near Costinesti.
Some say that Evangelia was deliberately wrecked by the owner to collect
the insurance money. The hypothesis is supported by the fact that during
the time of this catastrophe, although the haze has been very dense, the
sea was incredibly tranquil and also almost all sailing equipment worked
perfectly.
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