‘An Environmental Bomb’: Greece to Haul 27 Abandoned Ships

The Gulf of Elefsina, the chief industrial shipyard area in Greece is home to dozens of abandoned cargo ships and passenger ships. Now, the Greek Government plans to haul these hulking remains of a cargo ship which rise up through the water, says a report published in The National Post.

What’s the plan?

The Greek authorities have begun to remove the ships, some of which have been there for decades, saying they are both an environmental hazard and a danger to modern shipping.

“We are speaking about 27 shipwrecks and potentially … 12 harmful and dangerous ships,” said Charalampos Gargaretas, the chief executive officer of Elefsina Port Authority. “(It’s) a tragic situation.”

“From the port of Piraeus to the island of Salamina that lies off of Elefsina, the sea is littered with 52 such shipwrecks”, said Dimosthenis Bakopoulos, head of Greece’s Public Ports Authority.

But the process has been wrought with difficulties.

The owners of the ships vary from individuals to inheritors to companies registered in countries ranging from Greece to the Marshall Islands, Britain and Honduras. Some have gone bankrupt, some are no longer traceable, officials say. So authorities have put in motion a process where the abandoned ships can be appropriated by the state.

Salvage companies then take over the job of breaking up the ships and removing the remains — a job they undertake free of charge to the state in return for being able to sell the metal for scrap.

The Environmental Impact on the Locality

Another problem Greek authorities have faced is the lack of licensed ship-breaking yards in the area, and some opposition from locals who fear the environmental impact of large ships being demolished in their area.

“It is the sins of many years which we now have come (to solve),” said Gargaretas. “We are trying in a very short period of time and with huge bureaucratic and legal hurdles to remove all these ships from the area.”