Dimitros: The Greek ghost shipwreck floating abandoned for 30 years …

Dimitrios is a Greek shipwreck famous due to its picturesque location on an easily accessible sandy beach near Gythio, Greece.
Dimitrios (previously named Klintholm), a small, 67-metre (220-foot) cargo ship of 965 gross tons cargo capacity built in 1950, was registered in the Prefecture of Piraeus, registration no. 2707. The ship belonged 76.75% to the Molaris Brothers (Greek: Αφοί Μόλαρη) and 23.25% to the Matsinos Brothers (Greek Αφοί Ματσινού). Dimitrios has been stranded on the beach at Valtaki (Greek Βαλτάκι) in today′s Evrotas municipality in the prefecture of Laconia, Greece, since 23 December 1981.

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There are many rumors about the ship′s origins and how it got stranded on the beach. Most relate that the ship was used to smuggle cigarettes between Turkey and Italy. She was seized by the port authorities of Gythio and then deliberately released from the port and left to be dragged by the sea to the beach at Valtaki, about 5 kilometers (2.7 nautical miles; 3.1 miles) from the port of Gythio. She was then set on fire to hide the evidence of cigarette smuggling. Another, less common rumor speaks of a ghost ship of unknown origins.

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However, according to a book written by the Honorary Chief of the Hellenic Coast Guard, Vice Admiral Christos Ntounis (1935–2010), Ta Navagia stis Ellinikes thalasses (translated as The shipwrecks of the Greek seas) there is more to be said about the true history of the ship.

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Source Zeitfixierer/Flickr

In Ta Navagia stis Ellinikes thalasses (Volume B 1950-2000), Ntounis writes that the ship made an emergency docking at Gythio on 4 December 1980 because her captain needed access to a hospital due to a serious illness. However, after the ship′s docking, financial problems arose with the crew, as did various engine problems, coupled with insurance measures imposed by various lenders. The crew was then fired and the task of safeguarding the ship was assigned to Georgios Daniil and Vasilis Parigoris.