Maritime record MWX2740 - Aeolian Sky (Aioian Ekat)

Greek freighter, lost in collision. A collection of artefacts have been recovered from the wreck lying off St Adhelm's Head. Also referred to as AIOIAN EKAT from Greek name, 4 November 1979. Remains of the wreck of a Greek cargo ship which foundered in 1979, almost 6 miles SSE of Broad Bench Point following a leak caused by a collision with another vessel on the previous day. Built of steel in Japan in 1978, this motor vessel was just a year old when she sank.

The Aeolian Sky was Greek motor vessel registered at Piraeus, gross tonnage 6540. It was lost on 4 November 1979 whilst en route from London to Dar-es-Salaam whilst carrying a general cargo (17). The wreck was initially in collision with the M.V. Anna Knuppel on 3 Nov. 1979, and was later taken in tow by the French tug Abeille Languedoc, which towed her towards the English coast, but it sank by the bow in 29m of water, 12 miles from the Bill of Portland (17). The crew were recovered by helicopter (19). The ship initially stood within 9m of the surface but has now been cleared by explosives to 18m (18). The wreck now lies with most of the hull intact with the holds still full of cargo. It lies on the port side with the decks facing east and the bows to the south. The bow has been blown off and lies about 4m away from the main hull (18). The rudder has folded towards the sea-bed, and the propeller was salvaged soon after the wreck went down. The starboard anchor is still in place resting against the hull. (19) The wreck was sold to a Weymouth diving concern (Salvage Association (18) in 1979 (17) and some salvage was carried out soon after the sinking. The wreck is now owned by Proteus Maritime Co S.A.(16). Much of the cargo remains, although within unopened containers. The cargo included hundreds of containers of dangerous chemicals, as well as nail polish, paint thinners, liquid chlorine, resin butane aerosols, Bostik cleaner, ammonia, glass, barbed wire, lengths of English woollen cloth and on deck, dozens of Land Rover vehicles and cars. £1.2 million worth of Seychelles rupee bank notes were stored in the sick bay, all of which went missing during the rescue (17). Artefacts recovered from the wreck include: Length of wool suiting cloth, 3ft wide. 8 x Seychelle 100 rupee notes. Lifeboat emergency ration box (1); 1 x brass ring (2); 1x brass valve (3); 3 x glass jars (4); 1 x baby bottle food jar, 1 x palmolive bottle (5); 6 x jars, 2 x pots (6); 1 x thermometer glass tube (7); 2 x lights (8); 1 x perfume bottle (9); 4 x perfume bottles, 1 x small jar (10); 2 x navigation lights (11); 6 x brass cable grommets (12); 1 x glass bottle, 10cm high x 4cm wide x 2cm deep. 1 x glass bottle 11cm x 6cm x 3cm (13); 2 X Clear glass bottles with white plastic lids, 4ins high (14); 1 x Small glass bottle, clear glass, no markings, screw thread (15). Position 50 30.55N 2 8.33W taken from (18) Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles: Mountjoy, D et al. 1988, 'Divers Guide to Weymouth and Portland' p19; Legg, R. 1984, 'Guide to Purbeck Coast and Shipwrecks'; Lloyds Register 1978-9 (supp) p5.

Record last edited

May 15 2024 2:32PM