Greek authorities detained a German container ship after it suffered minor hull damages from scraping a shipwreck as it was entering Thessaloniki port.
The detention came on Wednesday after local coastguards were alerted to possible problems with the 1,578-teu Annaba (built 2006) — a Peter Dohle Schiffahrts-owned vessel moored at a quay of the northern Greek container ship terminal.
A closer inspection revealed that as the Annaba was approaching the port on Monday, it accidentally scraped the well-known and mapped carcass of the 1,135-gt Diamond 1 (built 1974) — a cargo ship that sank there about 15 years ago, leaving its master dead.
Several Greek websites reported that the Annaba hit on a much more famous shipwreck instead — the Ottoman battleship Fetih Bulent, which lies at the bottom of Thessaloniki harbour since a Greek warship shelled it in the 1912 Balkan war.
Local coastguard officials, however, say that the Fetih Bulent information is false and that it was the Diamond 1 the Annaba bumped into.
Greek media have also reported that the vessel’s German captain has been arrested. That, however, is just a formality under Greek law and none of the ship’s crew is understood to be detained.
The Peter Dohle ship did not suffer any major damage but is likely to need to dry dock before being able to sail again.
A fissure was found on the port side of the vessel, according to Greek coastguards.
“Imagine a giant cat stretching out its claws and scratching the hull,” one local source told TradeWinds.
The Annaba has no structural or stability issues. No leaks, pollution or any other kind of environmental damage has been found.
Shipwrecks are usually documented in Greece but they pose a danger nevertheless, as the country's waters are cluttered with them and authorities show little enthusiasm to remove them.
In 2020, the Greek government abolished by decree the Public Ports Authority (PPA), an agency that led a high-profile campaign to remove high-profile wrecks at the expense of their former owners.
Peter Dohle has been contacted for comment.
