Navagio Bay on Zakynthos: "Panagiotis" torn in half

Residents of Zakynthos are concerned about the future of the Panagiotis ship, which is located in Navagio Bay, as a recent storm that hit the island caused even more damage to the ship’s hull, literally tearing it in half.

Depressing picture

As can now be seen in recently published photographs, only the stern and bow of the Panayiotis are visible, and the image does not in any way resemble the very attraction captured in the photographs, which annually attracts thousands of tourists. “I saw that most of the ship was missing, that the beach had become even smaller,” says Christos Nikolopoulos.

In fact, the picture is depressing even compared to the condition of the ship’s hull two years ago or even in the summer.

Authorities are forced to find a solution to somehow preserve the remains of the Panayiotis, since further destruction or damage could completely destroy the ship, which is the most famous tourist attraction in Zakynthos.

According to experts, if strong winds and bad weather conditions continue in the area of ​​the island for a few more days, the ship may be completely destroyed. Let us recall that in the summer of 2023, Navagio Beach was closed to visitors, and those wishing to admire the famous landmark could only do so by sea from boats, at predetermined points, for a maximum of twenty minutes for safety reasons, as there were fears of landslides.

Authorities and departments are strongly recommended

In his first speech as Deputy Governor of Zakynthos, Panagiotis Kapodistrias called for cooperation with the municipality so that solutions are found immediately. “I have listened and read with great interest about the municipality’s desire to create an authority and change the situation with Navagio Beach. We support such efforts. The point is that everything needs to be done quickly. I will also meet with Mr. Stasinopoulos in the coming days to get to know him schedule“, said Kapodistrias and called “to put pressure on the ministry to recognize the need.”

The Zakynthos City Hall called for consensus and cooperation, and for its part emphasized that only concrete steps will save the sunken ship and provide significant solutions.

According to IONIAN TV, one of the first to see and photograph the sunken ship after the bad weather was the president of the Porto Vromi ship consortium, Maries Dionysis Yatras, who expressed his outrage at what he saw.

“I saw that most of the ship was missing, the beach became even smaller, and the situation was very sad. Unfortunately, I see that nothing is happening with the way our state works.”, – he said. Authorities and departments are calling for people to run in time to save the famous landmark of Zakynthos.

Photo January 11, 2024

Meeting at the Ministry of Tourism

According to imerazante.gr, Zakynthos MP Dionysis Ahtipis, together with the mayor of the island, George Stasinopoulos, visited the Ministry of Tourism yesterday, Wednesday (01/10/2024), and met with the Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development Myronas Flouris. They were joined by Deputy Mayor Dionysis Turkakis.

Photo 2015

Mr. Ahtipis said about the meeting held at the ministry: “The issue of the sunken ship is already with the relevant ministries and the Secretary General Mr. Flouris has contacted the Ministry of Tourism to coordinate the actions that must be taken immediately to transfer the management of the sunken ship and the restoration of the damage to the municipality of Zakynthos. Contact has already taken place with the General Secretariat government property by Mrs. Kollias and a meeting is scheduled with the Minister of Finance Mr. Hatzidakis next week so that we can finalize this whole plan that we have for the wreck. Those who left the wreck for 40 years without doing anything for maintaining it, preserving it so that it can continue to exist, now they criticize us who started procedures 4 years ago so that we could save the sunken ship, and the actions we took are concrete and tangible.”

Speaking about the measures taken by the government, he added: “€2,730,000 was taken from the Ministry of Finance and it could not be disbursed because some people did not do what they should have done. The Ministry of the Interior in Ms. Kraca’s previous regional authority took €1 million to implement projects in the region, and the new regional authorities must submit technical reports as soon as possible to begin implementing these projects. We see that the current government and I personally, as a member of parliament, are really dealing with the shipwreck, we have allocated funding and are always on top.”

Photo 2018

How to save “Panagiotis”

Speaking specifically about the condition of the vessel, Mr. Ahtipis notes: “Two things need to be done. One is related to management, that is, open wrecks and protection measures, and the other is related to the maintenance of the vessel. We are trying to prevent this through the procedures that we are promoting, to intervene in the situation with the salvage of the wreck through specific actions so that the waves do not completely destroy it. I can’t say more, but we are aware of the problem and are trying to save what can be saved right now.”

Speaking about the risk of the “disappearance” of the sunken ship, Mr. Ahtipis emphasized that he has been trying to resolve this important issue for four years. “Don’t worry! If they were worried, they should have done it 15 years earlier when they had leadership. I think their silence is the best solution to get our work done…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1qbDrR_X3E

Memorandum from the Municipality of Zakynthos
In a memorandum sent by the mayor of Zakynthos, Georgios Stasinopoulos, to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, the Minister of Tourism, Olga Kefalogianni, and the Secretary General for Public Property, Athena Maria Kollias, he asks for a ministerial decision to immediately transfer to the municipality the beach and sea coast in the area of ​​Nafagio.

History of the ship “Panagiotis”

Name Navajo bays (Navagio) is translated from Greek as “shipwreck”, and this is for a reason. In 1983, the smuggling ship Panayiotis, which was illegally transporting cigarettes to Italy, sank near the bay. When they discovered the intruders, they quickly boarded the boats and abandoned the ship, sinking it along with the goods. Once, during a big storm, the ship “Panagiotis” washed ashore in the bay, where it remained to this day. 39 years have passed since the shipwreck, and the bay with the wrecked ship has entered the list of the most famous and best beaches in the world.

Photo 2016

But alas, time takes its toll, and the hull of the sunken ship is so rusty that at any moment it could simply fall apart (which, in fact, happened the other day).

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