The United Nations estimates that there are more than 3 million shipwrecks on the ocean floor. But, also, shipwrecks can be found on deserted beaches, on coral reefs in the middle of the ocean, at restricted diamond areas, uninhabited islands or other remote & uncivilized places. Therefore, this is a list dedicated to picturesque shipwrecks which are still visible on beaches around the world.
1. Dimitrios Shipwreck, Greece
Dimitrios is a Greek shipwreck famous due to its picturesque location on an easily accessible sandy beach near Gythio, Greece. 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. [link, map]
2. SS Ayrfield Wreck, Australia
SS Ayrfield was a steel-hulled, single screw, steam collier of 1140 tonnes and 79.1m (260ft) in length. It was built in the UK in 1911 and registered at Sydney in 1912. It was purchased by the Commonwealth Government and used to transport supplies to American troops stationed in the Pacific region during WWII. The hull is located near the mouth of Haslams Creek with the bow pointing towards the shore. [link, map]
3. Eduard Bohlen, Namibia
The Eduard Bohlen was a ship that ran aground off the coast of Namibia's Skeleton Coaston September 5, 1909. Currently the wreck lies in the sand a quarter mile from the shoreline.
The ship was a 2,272 gross ton cargo ship with a length of 310 feet (95m). In September 1909, it ran aground in thick fog and wrecked at Conception Bay while on a voyage from Swakopmund to Table Bay. This wreck is said to symbolise the loneliness of Namibia’s coast best. Its remains lie rusting in the sand, partially buried. [link, map]
4. Shipwreck near Vila Nova de Milfontes, Portugal
On the beautiful beach of Vila Nova de Milfontes in Portugal lays the wreck of a tugboat. Local people say that this Dutch ship stranded while fleeing from the Coast Guard. Members of the crew didn't want to be caught, because the boat was used to smuggle goods. [map]
5. Panagiotis Shipwreck, Greece
The Panagiotis is a picturesque shipwreck lying in the white sands of an exposed cove on the coast of Zakynthos (Zante), which is among the southern-most of the Ionian Islands of Greece.
Navagio ("Shipwreck"), the spot where she lies, is a valued tourist attraction on the north-western side of the island, with thousands of visitors each year. She was built in Scotland in 1937 as Saint Bedan and wrecked in 1980, probably while carrying contraband cigarettes and being chased by the Greek Navy. [link, map]
6. La Famille Express, Turks and Caicos Islands
“La Famille Express” is a very rusty boat that got stuck on sandbank in the Turks and Caicos islands a long time ago. Ship sits in around 7ft of water. Has improvised ladders allowing access to entire ship.
7. Loullia Wreck, Egypt
The Loullia was a Panama freighter, built in Sweden and launched in 1952. On a voyage from Aqaba to Suez in ballast, the Loullia ran hard onto Gordon Reef in the Straits of Tiran on 29 September 1981. The crew safely abandoned ship four days later and the vessel is still found on top of the reef. [link, map]
8. Battleship "Murmansk", Norway
Battleship "Murmansk" was a Russian military ship that ran aground in 1994. The 200-metre long battleship lies stranded right outside the breakwater at Sørvær, and has gradually become a landmark of its own. It was a special design half way between a submarine and a battleship. [map]
9. Shipwreck in the Suriname River, Suriname
Steel lightship with a round light tower, lantern and gallery. This ship was rigged as a sail-driven vessel, leaving the Netherlands for Suriname in 1911. The light tower was added after its arrival. Now abandoned near Fort Amsterdam, Suriname. The picture is taken in 2008. The wreck is still visible today. [link, map]
10. Protector Shipwreck, Australia
Protector was a large flat-iron gunboat commissioned and purchased by the South Australian government in 1884, for the purpose of defending the local coastline against possible attacks in the aftermath of the ‘Russian scare', of 1870s. During 1943, Protector was requisitioned for war service by the US Army. On the way to New Guinea and off Gladstone, she was damaged in a collision with a tug and abandoned. [link, map]
11. World Discoverer, Solomon Islands
Hidden in a remote bay of the Solomon Islands, the beached wreck of the German-built Liberian Cruise ship World Discoverer slowly rusts. There is nothing about the ship more fascinating than the story of its demise. Built in 1974, it served multiple owners faithfully for over 25 years. In April of 2000, the ship struck an uncharted reef formation just off the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The captain radioed for assistance, and before long all passengers were shuttled off the World Discoverer by local ferries. Captain Oliver Kruess managed to nurse the ship into nearby Roderick Bay where she began to list until settling into her final resting place, where she still sits today. [link, map]
12. Shipwreck of the Olympia, Greece
This wreck is located in a small bay of Livero on the Greek island of Amorgos. The ship ran aground here in 1979, coming from Cyprus, without any human loss.
A tug boat the Matsas Star tried unsuccessfully to pull the Olympia out of the gulf and since then this ship wreck is part of the island’s history. [link, map]
13. "Gallant Lady" Shipwreck, Bahamas
The once magnificent ‘Gallant Lady’ now peacefully rests against a rocky shore of paradise on the southern tip of North Bimini in the Bahamas.
Decades ago, the freighter sailed from Belize City. As bad storms came, the crew soon found themselves smashed into the shore. Years followed as the salty waves gently caresses the abandoned ship, slowing reducing it down to a skeleton of rusted steel. [link, map]
14. Maheno Shipwreck, Australia
The Maheno - is the most famous of Fraser Island's wrecks and has become a landmark attraction. Built in 1905, the SS Maheno was one of the first turbine-driven steamers. She plied a regular route between Sydney and Auckland until she was commissioned as a hospital ship in Europe during World War One. She also served in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
In 1935, she and her sister ship the Oonah were sold to Japan for scrap. The rudders of the boats were removed and they were being towed to Japan. When they reached Queensland Waters, a cyclonic storm snapped the tow chain and the Maheno drifted helplessly onto Fraser Island's ocean beach. [link, map]
15. Cabo de Santa Maria, Cape Verde
Cabo de Santa Maria is a freighter wrecked in 1968 on the island of Boa Vista, Cape Verde. The wreckage of the Cabo de Santa Maria has become a symbol of Boa Vista and Cape Verde. A source of inspiration for painters, photographs of the ship illustrate articles, books, guides and magazines. A visit to the wreckage is a must of any tour of Boa Vista. [link]
Bonus: SS America Shipwreck, Canary Islands, Spain
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| The wreck of the American Star (SS America) seen in July 2004 from land side link |
SS America was an ocean liner built in 1940 for the United States Lines and designed by the noted naval architect William Francis Gibbs. After long and lustrous career as a luxury liner, it got wrecked at Fuerteventura in 1994 and since became a total loss.
In April 2007 the starboard side finally collapsed causing the wreck to break in half and fall into the sea. Since then, what little remained has been slowly disappearing beneath the waves. As of February 2012, only a few feet of the ship remains above the water. [link,map]
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