Growthfund has launched a tender, on behalf of the Municipality of Zakynthos, worth approximately €4 million for the protection of Navagio Beach and the ship Panagiotis, which ran aground in the area in October 1980 and has since become one of the most recognisable symbols of Greek tourism, according to a report by Kathimerini.
The project provides for the artificial replenishment of a 193-metre stretch of coastline, extending the beach by 30 metres towards the sea. Approximately 45,000 cubic metres of coarse sand and gravel will be transported by sea and deposited using a floating crane at depths of up to seven metres. The aim is to increase the distance between the wreck and the sea and reduce the damage caused by waves.
A second project, worth €2.5 million, is also expected to be put out to tender for the conservation and restoration of the Panagiotis itself, which was shipwrecked in 1980.
The intervention is based on a coastal engineering study carried out by an interdisciplinary team from the National Technical University of Athens. The researchers describe it as the least intrusive available solution, as alternatives such as breakwaters or artificial reefs were ruled out. The project also includes measures to limit water turbidity, a special ecological assessment due to the area’s inclusion in the Natura network, and monitoring of material loss.
However, scientists have expressed reservations, arguing that the beach is not facing an erosion problem and that the gravel may soon be washed away by the sea. In their view, the project constitutes a significant human intervention whose primary purpose is to preserve a tourism landmark.
Source: Κathimerini
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