Rarity shipwreck which sank 40 years ago in Cabo Doro, taking with it its secrets and 28 human lives, was discovered by the explorer Kostas Toktaridis and his team.

This is the “Golden Dawn”, a ship that was bought in 1976 by “Grammi Epirou EPE” during the August war and sailed from Rafina in the Cyclades as a passenger car ferry.

His discovery evoked memories but also mixed feelings among the relatives of the victims: “The discovery of the sunken Golden Dawn is important, but our people who were lost with him will never return,” said Ms. K. Tsumezi, wife the master who disappeared on that fateful day.

Story

It was on Wednesday, February 23, 1983, at 16:06, when the Golden Dawn sailed from the port of Rafina towards Andros and other islands of the Cyclades, carrying 5 trucks and 9 fuel trucks with a total weight of 298 tons. On board were 21 crew members, 16 truck drivers and 5 passengers, including M. Lavda and her two children. That day the weather was cold, it was raining and a strong wind was blowing.

At 18:20, the ship, heading for Cabo Doro, took the dangerous right bank by 160 degrees. Captain Antonis Gardelis, realizing the criticality of the situation, changed course to the port of Karystos and immediately after that, by radiotelephone, he gave a distress signal, which was received by the Lavrio coast station.

Immersion

About 15 minutes later, an explosion occurred on the Golden Dawn, most likely due to a leak of fuel from tankers. A fire broke out on the ship. A second, even stronger explosion followed, and the ship capsized. Then part of the superstructure came off, and the trucks in the garage were at the bottom.

Passenger/ferry “Chrisi Ammos III” from Rafina, passenger/ferry “Kastriani Keas” from Karisto, Russian oceanographic vessel Yakov Gakkel, located in the area of ​​hydrographic surveys, Romanian “Boldaine”, frigate “Lemnos”, destroyer of the Navy ” Sfendoni” and ships passing by.

An Air Force C130 aircraft dropped flares to facilitate the search. However, unfortunately, out of the total number of 42 people on board, only 14 escaped, 12 people from the Russian oceanographic ship, one person from the Romanian truck and 1 person from Golden Sands III. Among the 14 survivors, there were only three crew members.

Meanwhile, the ship remained on the surface upside down and drifted with the currents for at least 3 hours until it was lost forever at the bottom of the Aegean Sea.

Detection

Forty years after the tragic death, the team of explorer Kostas Toktaridis finds the sunken Golden Dawn at a depth of -110 meters. As he notes, “the first images of the crash site are awe-inspiring. It is impressive that only part of the superstructure came off from the fire and explosions, while the rest of the ship at the bottom remained untouched.

It is worth noting that in the past, part of the trucks and part of the superstructure were found, but not the wreckage of the Golden Dawn, which is not in the same place.

Shipwreck at the bottom

After the explosions and capsizing, the ship, as the autopsy showed, during flooding, previously freed from the cargo of trucks, returned to the correct position due to the low center of gravity of the engines and tanks and settled on the sandy bottom with an oar and a right slope of 8 degrees.

Distinctive yellow fog lamps with a red and white logo of the shipowner’s company, the letter “P”, stand out.

A special underwater remotely operated vehicle ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) was used to determine the location and identification. The stern catapult is closed and secured, the anchors are in place in the holds, and you can see how the sheets are shifting to the starboard side. There are fishing tackle on the wreck, such as the net next to the stairs leading to the upper aft deck.

At the stern, you can also see the winch that was used to control the cables when the ship was in port. In the aft part, on the right, a corridor is clearly visible, in which even today there are two characteristic benches. The hatch leading to the engine room is half open…

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