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Elderly remembers first time Greek ship sank at Oudekraal as wreck washes ashore

CAPW TOWN – Onlookers flocked to see the Antipolis shipwreck that has washed ashore at Oudekraal near the Twelve Apostles Hotel.

Rough seas and massive swells this past week dislodged the Greek tanker that sank in July 1977.

The City of Cape Town said the wreck resurfaced due to the full moon's effect on sea tides and strong currents.

The Antipolis wreck has already attracted quite a crowd with many children, still in their school uniforms, braving the rocks to get up close.

Peter Creer (72) remembered the first time the vessel sank decades ago.

"We saw the propeller had broken off… the other one had broken in half and we could see the bottom part had dropped, you couldn't even see it. The galley was still full of machines, everything was still on it."

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Another onlooker, 61-year-old Christopher Brown, said he swam down to the first wreck site as a teenager in the 70s and recovered special relics.

"There were two ships that were being towed out at sea to be scrapped, so there was no one aboard and the towline snapped and they both came adrift and they floated to sea and ran aground – one here at Oudekraal…"

Aggressive waves beat down on the stranded hulk intermittently, slightly pivoting it from the rocks.

It's not known for how much longer the wreck will be visible to the public.

Artmotion S.Africa

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