‘We’ve been planning this for months and no one said a thing’
PARALIMNI Mayor Andreas Evangelou yesterday defended the decision to sink the Liberty in order to create a diving attraction, blasting the statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture that called the sinking illegal and dangerous. According to Evangelou, the sinking was perfectly legal and took place openly, in the knowledge of the Merchant Shipping Department, the Port Authority and the CTO.
“What we did was not illegal in any way and was done openly, in the presence of 200 people and the knowledge and approval of the Department of Merchant Shipping and the CTO.
“I cannot understand why all these accusations were voiced – they just seem out of place. I repeat: everything was legal and I am preparing a letter to the Director of the Ministry of Agriculture requesting explanations,” Evangelou told the Cyprus Mail.
The CTO yesterday issued a statement backing Evangelou’s claims.
“The CTO congratulates Paralimni Municipality for its efforts to enrich marine life and the creation of areas of interest for diving tourism. The Liberty is the first materialisation in Cyprus of the legal effort to create an artificial reef.
“The metal vessel that has a length of 36.6m was placed at a depth of approximately 20m after a full check, disarmament and cleaning; what was broadcast in the news was completely false particularly that it had ‘electric wiring, pipes and ropes’ or anything else that could create pollution or any kind of danger,” said Glafkos Kariolou, CTO Representative at the Central Beach Committee.
The statement issued by the Fisheries Department on May 23, the day after the Liberty was sunk, heavily criticised the move and claimed that the municipality had not been granted the necessary licence.
“The Municipality of Paralimni, which is the owner of the ship has not followed any of the necessary procedures and as a result there is, among other, a danger to the lives of divers. The vessel was sunk without removing the electronic wires, the ropes or the pipes. As a result the Fisheries Department has reported the case to the police,” the statement read.
“The sinking took place skilfully in the correct way. Expert information was offered to us free of charge by top ranking military and navy officers, whose names cannot be disclosed. We removed the petrol, the engine, the wires, the paint and anything else that could cause a problem,” replied Evangelou.
As confirmed by the Fisheries Department, the municipality was in the process of acquiring the relevant licence and had prematurely moved to the sinking.
The municipality had bought the vessel at an auction that took place six months ago for €12,000 with the intention of using it to create a man-made reef at Protaras.
The municipality also completed a formal bidding process for the contract to tow the boat from Limassol to the spot where it would be sunk. The contract was assigned to a Larnaca-based company for €27,000. Evangelou, however, claimed that the vessel was in such a bad condition that it was going to sink while being towed from Limassol to Paralimni.
“After the request of the Port Authority to remove it from the entrance of Limassol Port, we brought it up and towed it to Paralimni. The ship, however, was in bad condition and water kept coming in. It was bound to sink and we did not want it to sink uncontrollably in a beach frequented by people,” he said.
“We had two options on where to take it: the Nisia area and the Ayia Triada area. We chose the latter, where an ancient shipwreck used to lie, and sank it at a depth of 24m. We speeded up the sinking so that it was done in the correct way,” he added.
Evangelou also claimed that authorities had been wasting time in dealing with this case. “What have they been doing all these months? They move at a snail’s pace and it was going to sink on its own and they wouldn’t even know.
“We bought the vessel six months ago and have since been in contact with the Department of Commercial Shipping, the CTO, and the Director of the Ministry of Agriculture.”
Diving the Liberty
LAST FRIDAY at 4.30pm the Liberty made her final voyage from Limassol to the Protaras/Pernera area and at 8.30pm local time, with Famagusta in the background, the 37m cargo ship sank to her final resting place at the bottom of the Mediterranean, at a depth of 24 metres.
The sinking of new wreck will hopefully attract an abundance of new marine life to our shores and also provide a fantastic new training ground with easy access for divers on the island.
The Liberty wreck was a 226 tonne Russian cargo ship that used to carry frozen cargo from port to port. It is approximately 37 metres in length with a width of around seven metres.
(Photos and additional information courtesy of www.justscuba.net)
