“Sea Diamond” Wreckage—12 Years after the Fatal Maritime Accident, the Vessel Remains an Environmental Concern

Abstract

The present study was accomplished to fulfill the requisition of the Appeal Court of the city of Piraeus. According to the Court’s Decision, an environmental impact assessment should be made for the ongoing condition of the wreckage along with a study of the corrosion evolution process and a provision of the hull’s endurance should be estimated. The wreckage was sounded out, surveyed thoroughly by means of an ROV device immersed ad hoc. Extended videos and photo shots were taken and the exact position of the vessel depicted analytically on a sea contour depth chart. Hull corrosion, sea column & sea bottom sediment sampling carried out for the analysis of hazardous compounds PAHs, TPHs, PCBs and heavy metals in June and July of 2019. Fish and oyster tissues were analyzed in the lab for heavy metals’ detection. A great concern was given for (Cd) & (Pb) concentration in sea column nearby wreck. Α report of about 1000 pages of the methodology & results was handed over to the Appeal Court of which merely partial significant segments are presented herein. The technical report denotes that PCBs, PAHs, TPHs sea bed & sea column measurements nearby the wreck were, in general, low or below detectable level. As regards heavy metals concentration level in aquatic sea column, the results indicate that only in certain locations heavy metals i.e. (Pb) and (Ni) were measured above the detection limit and classified according to contamination factors from moderate to high contamination level and might attribute to the presence of the wreck in the close area. Contamination factor indices consolidate the approach that the hull presence in the bottom contributes to the environmental degradation of the “caldera” ecosystem. The vessel’s hull is expected to be wiped out in almost four hundred years period according to the applied corrosion model.