Shipwreck in Zakynthos, Greece

The most commonly accepted story regarding the wreck of the Panagiotis maintains that she spent the later part of her life as a smuggler ship. In 1980 (during a time of record population lows on the island of Zakynthos), Panagiotis was making her way from Turkey with a freight of contraband cigarettes (for the Italian Mafia, as some versions of the story assert). The crew was suspected by authorities, and so the Panagiotis was pursued by the Greek Navy. Encountering stormy weather, she ran aground in a shallow cove to the north of Porto Vromi, where the crew abandoned ship to evade the pursuing Navy. To this day, she remains at the site which is now called "Navagio" for the Greek "shipwreck."