The Official Gazette was published by a joint decision of the Ministers of Citizen Protection, Maritime and Island Policy, Tourism and the Climate Crisis and Citizen Protection, according to which access to Navagio Zakynthos Bay by sea and land is prohibited until the end of October.

On the recommendation of the President of the OASP and Prof. Mr. Lekkas, the four ministers decided to permanently close the shipwreck.

In particular, they state:

a) Prohibition of access to and approach to the “Restricted Zone” and “Controlled Access Zone”, as they are specified in the Appendix to this document, and are mentioned in 03/09/2023 with p.p. 550/9.3.2023 Risk assessment in the Zakynthos shipwreck OASP.

b) prohibition of access to the upper part of the slope and to the plateau that exists in front of the slope and borders the access road for visitors, with a prohibition limit of 10 meters from the edge of the slope.

c) Exceptional approach to the free access zone as shown in the attached annex and mentioned in dated 9.3.2023 under no. 550/9.3.2023 risk assessment in the Zakynthos OASP wreck area, which includes the area defined by the DG points and has the Panagiotis wreck as a limitation, exclusively and only in cases of emergency and assistance. .

d) Prohibition of movement and approach – anchoring of any floating motorized or non-motorized craft, as well as the prohibition of bathers from swimming in the sea within an imaginary line connecting the two (02) ends (north and south) of the Navagio Bay, Zakynthos. Approach to the specified sea area is allowed only in emergency cases and when providing assistance.

e) The access and approach bans, as well as the controlled access conditions set out in this document, are in effect from the date of issuance of this present document and until 10/31/2023 in order to protect visitors during the tourist season.

With regard to liability measures against violators, it is indicated that: Violators of this, regardless of criminal or civil liability, are also subject to administrative penalties in accordance with Article 157 n.d. 187/1973 (A’ 261) and whose provisions regarding the amount, type of sanctions and the manner in which they are imposed are accordingly applied by the personnel of the Greek police.

Source: ERT