Greece hauls half-sunken ships out of the sea

ELEFSINA, Greece — The hulking remains of a cargo ship rise up through the water, listing to one side with a rusting hull exposed, its glory days of sailing the world’s seas and oceans long gone.

This is just one of dozens of abandoned cargo and passenger ships that lie semi-submerged or sunken in and near the Gulf of Elefsina, an industrial area of shipyards and factories near Greece’s major port of Piraeus.

Greek authorities have begun to remove the ships, some of which have been there for decades, saying they are 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.

“You don’t have to be a scientist to understand that the shipwrecks are an environmental bomb that degrades the environment of the nearby municipalities,” Bakopoulos said, adding that some of the ships were still leaking petroleum.

The owners of the ships vary from individuals to firms registered in countries ranging from Greece to the Marshall Islands, Britain and Honduras. Some have gone bankrupt and 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.

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

THANASSIS STAVRAKIS/AP Small boats recovered after spending years as shipwrecks are shown at a dock in Elefsina, Greece. Greek authorities have begun to remove sunken ships, a danger to shipping.