By Nicolas Bard

The image of the rusty bun on St. George’s coast in Zakynthos with turquoise waters and steep cliffs is very familiar to us. He has traveled to the ends of the world, flooding the internet and social media, and has also been the key image of the campaign for Greek tourism for many decades. The Zakynthos shipwreck is famous worldwide and before the sea washed it on the sand in October 1980 it had deleted its own, separate story.

This photogenic ship was built in Scotland in 1937 and its original name was “Saint Bedan”. For the first time it fell into the water on Thursday, January 14, 1937 and initially made commercial routes on the west coast of the British islands, transporting minerals and general cargo. However, the upcoming war was supposed to change its course, with the ship participating in both the Dunkirk evacuation and the Normandy landing. Specifically, in June 1940, and while it was already on the Strait of the Channel, the ship contributed to the dramatic discharge of Dunkirk and helped to leave the allies’ troops to England.

Four years later the ship was controlled for yet another big battle. On April 17, “Saint Bedan” was controlled at the port of Newport. He joined the EBC4W war with which he reached the main front of the allies, the famous coast of Normandy’s “Omhaha”. It was June 10, 1944, four days after the start of the landing. According to the records of the time, he transported ammunition to enhance the efforts of the Allied forces.

Twenty years later, in 1964, the ship passed into Greek hands (M. Gigilin) ​​and was renamed “Meropi”. In 1966 he changed his property again (N. Kalfas) and was renamed “Harris” to reach 1975 to resell for the third and last time to P. Lisicatos & Company based in Piraeus, when he was named “Panagiotis”. A few hours before the wreck, the port found the ship off Zakynthos to carry smuggled cigarettes on behalf of the Italian mafia. In his attempt to escape, and because of the difficult weather conditions in the area, he accumulated in the shallow of a small, picturesque gulf.

“Panagiotis” was found on October 5, 1980 by a shipwreck by the Maritime Financial Police and was found to carry cigarettes with smuggled cigarettes, worth 30 million drachmas. The ship’s crew abandoned it, but was arrested a few days later, and many of the cigarette packs that fell into the sea and collected locals in their homes were seized by the authorities. The ship today is considered a shipwreck and belongs to the absolute jurisdiction of the State, while the National Technical University of Athens has delivered a finding last year to the local community to rescue the Koufari, which fights with time and nature. After months of research, NTUA’s work team promised “the least possible intervention in the landscape and minimizing environmental impacts, rescue and effective anti -corrosion protection of the shipwreck, as well as its safe traffic.”
According to former data, about 1 million tourists visit the shipwreck each year, which, as is easily understood, contributes decisively to both the tourism of the island and the whole country. The heroic “Panagiotis” who, from the Strait of the Channel and the intense militant past, ended up in the blue waters of the Ionian Sea still still attracts the look and interest of the world community, being one of the most characteristic landmarks in our homeland and entering our homeland. What does the future hold on to him?