02/10/2022
02-10-1980. ""The Shipwreck of Zakynthos.""
A marine accident in Zakynthos in 1980, in Spirilii Bay, as it was called, is one of the most famous shipwrecks in the world. The story of the shipwreck greatly changed the tourism product of Zakynthos which made the island famous with 4,000 tourists a day visiting the beach.
The Greek-flagged motorship "Panagiotis", built in Scotland in 1937 as "Saint Bedan", came into Greek hands in 1964 as "Meropi", then became "Charis" and in 1975 "Panagiotis". It was a motor vessel type, 48 meters long, 8 meters wide and weighing 450 tons.
On the evening of September 12, 1980, the ship left for Tunisia. The ship owner had come to an agreement with the Italian mafia to smuggle ci******es which would be unloaded on Italian mafia boats off Naples. On September 25, 1980, they met the Spanish-flagged ship SanGeorgio in the middle of the ocean and loaded 1,895 cartons of ci******es of foreign origin. On the "Panagiotis" captained by Kyriakos Varvatakos, there were seven Greeks and two Italians, members of the Mafia, who were accompanying the contraband cargo. Captain and ship owner decided to turn the ship with the contraband ci******es to Greece and sell the goods by pretending that the mobsters have not paid the freight. So the ship "Panagiotis" set sail for Greece and the two Italians were locked in a cabin at gunpoint. The value of the smuggled ci******es was around 200,000 dollars, quite a large amount for the time.
They arrived at Katelios Bay in Kefalonia on 1 October 1980. She temporarily repaired what would prove to be a mechanical failure and sailed for the cargo delivery point. in addition to the mechanical damage that "Panagiotis" was facing, it also had a lack of fuel. However, the engine of the motor ship was struggling, with the engineer informing that repairs must be made immediately. In a communication he had with the shipowner, he told him that he would send him fuel, but, as Varvatakos claimed, he forgot about him because he was playing barbouti.
With the engine almost broken, they arrived at night at the islet of Varviani in Kefalonia and anchored. They took supplies brought to them by boats and paid with ci******es from the cargo.
On October 1, 1980, the ship "Panagiotis" was off Zakynthos. Strong winds were battering the motorship which was experiencing serious mechanical damage. At one point there was a deafening noise from the engine room. It was the end of the machine. The ship became unruly between Kefalonia and Zakynthos and the weather drove her to the rocks.. The engine failure cannot be repaired as it should have been for the trip. The master decided not to anchor but to continue that way. The strong winds drove the boat to the rocks of the bay of Zakynthos. The captain was trying to send an SOS but the radio batteries had no power. He also threw a naval flare into the air, but it was not noticed.
At 4:30 in the morning on October 2, 1980, the ship "Panagiotis" ran aground after hitting the rocks. The Italian prisoners were freed and shortly before the beaching they launched a boat. In the middle of the night all nine passengers were on the sand. At the first light of day, the captain gave the order to bring 280 boxes of contraband ci******es to shore. The water that had entered the hold had damaged quite a few, while some had been pulled overboard. Access from the beach to a road was impossible. On the morning of the 3rd of October they rowed to a cove north of the beaching. From there they headed to the village of Volimes and from there to the Port Authority to inform about the shipwreck. The villagers who heard the news rushed to grab what they could. Many cartons of contraband ci******es will end up in local homes and warehouses, while a very small portion will find the Coast Guard.
In the trial that followed, the ship owner, the master and the smugglers were convicted. Looting of the ship followed, until a carcass was left, eaten away by salt, rain and wind. The waves accumulated over the years sand and pebbles growing the beach and shaping it as it is today.
The Shipwreck of Zakynthos, as it is now called and has made the Ionian island famous around the world. A proposal was made to preserve and restore the tourist attraction, but the Church got involved in legal proceedings against the Ministry of Tourism and local bodies claiming that it owns the area. As a result, the carcass of the iron ship is constantly corroded, risking its disappearance due to non-maintenance and reconstruction.
