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Kaliviani - old wreck at the beach
A ran aground colossus named Santa Maria was the famous landmark of Kaliviani. The freighter for 26 years was a well-known photo motive at the wild coast of Kaliviani. The ship was disabled and ashore. 10 years ago in 1997, I met one of the signed on seamen. He is Indian and told me his story. Since then he never left Crete and met the love of his live here on Crete. She is Cretan woman and since then his wife. Together they live still now at the other end of Crete in Iearapetra (in the southeast). Ones a year the seaman, I forgot his name, spends some holidays here in Kaliviani and visits the wreck witch brought him so much luck. Now, since the dismantling and recycling of the wreck, I do not believe to see him again.

The wreck, for many people like a magnet, has made many friends and fans. It tempted into making interesting pictures from different ankles. It was also me to visit several times the hull making some photos of its inside. Indeed, it was a little adventure to know such a lot of instable metal around you while climbing inside of it! It was also exiting not only to hear but also to feel the waves knocking at the wall of the ship. It was not easy not to get dizzy watching what was still inside the wreck, because everything what is usually vertical like walls, doors and furniture got out of place into diagonal.

Year by year the still rise up poles bowed down to sea level until the hull got over in the middle. It seemed like the ship was not sure in what direction to bow. There was already graffiti outside at the ship log time before this kind of art was well known also in bigger Cretan cities. Artists of any kind created objects, fascinated by the different surfaces, rotten colour layers and rust.
 

Particularly the strong winter thunderstorms worked at the ashore freighter.  Strong waves break on the hull and finally got into it. Everything what was not fixed was pulled out and scattered all over the beach. I have made many walks down there and picked up some interesting flotsam to take them home. One of my shelves is made out of pieces of drawers – probably from the captain’s galley because of its good quality. Mortise and tenon are still at the wood – now more rounded because of the sea – but still in proper conditions.

How many fantasies cause this giant at the coast of Kaliviani! At least, in November 2003 the wrack starts its last voyage. A new owner recycled it for scrap metal. Some brave men with blowtorches fights against the steel and iron massive and cut the wrack into small and handy pieces. I saw them in all weathers - small like ants – on the giant, cutting with small blue flame making long cuts to put the ship in sequences. A difficult task, because no one could know exactly how the rest of the ship would react. Megatons of weight have its own moods! Happily, no one gets hurt until the nearly three months of work. Imagine a freighter must be cut into 1 by 1 m² small squares, not bigger because of the opening of the melting furnace! A hell of a job – and because the wrack at some places was already rusted, they have had problems with the blowtorches which do not work on rust.

Now, for all people who knew and loved the wrack, there is a big hole at the beach of Kaliviani. However, honestly: The wreck became more and more dangerous because of its instability. Probably recycling the wreck has prevented personal injury and this would have been a too sad memory of the stranded freighter