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Greek Court rules that owners are not obliged to remove wrecks located beyond Greek territorial waters16 October 2025

"The Thessaloniki First Instance Administrative Court held that Greek law does not establish any obligation on ship owners to remove wrecks located beyond Greek territorial waters."

In a recent judgment the Thessaloniki First Instance Administrative Court held that Greek law does not establish any obligation on ship owners to remove wrecks located beyond Greek territorial waters and upheld an appeal against a Thessaloniki Harbour Authority decision that imposed a fine on owners for the failure to remove two wrecks.

The case concerned the sinking of a tug and a barge, which were being towed together unmanned by a tug under a TOWCON 2008 towage agreement. The sinking occurred in the greater area of Thermaikos Bay in the Aegean and beyond Greek territorial waters which extend to six nautical miles from the coast.

The Thessaloniki Harbour Authority asked the owners to remove the wrecks from their sunk position, however, such recovery/removal was technically impossible. Despite this, the Harbour Authority imposed a fine on the owners for failure to remove the wrecks. The fine was based on an alleged violation of the provisions of article 4, in combination with Annex I para. 5, of the Protocol for the Prevention of Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from dumping from ships and aircrafts and of the International Convention of Barcelona of 1976 for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution (“Barcelona Convention”) which has been enacted in Greece by virtue of Law No. 855/1978.

Article 4 of the above protocol prohibits the dumping of waste and other prohibited materials listed in Annex 1 of the protocol into the Mediterranean Sea. Para. 5 of Annex I refers to persistent plastic and other persistent synthetic materials which may materially interfere with fishing or navigation, reduce amenities or interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea. The Harbour Authority was of the view that the owners’ failure to remove the wrecks constituted a prohibited dumping of wastes or other material listed in Annex I of the Protocol. On this basis, the Harbour Authority imposed a fine under article 5 of law no. 855/1978.

The owners, represented by WFW Athens Dispute Resolution Partner Dimitris Giomelakis and Senior Associate Nikos Mathiopoulos, appealed against the decision imposing the fine. The Court upheld the appeal, accepted the owners’ arguments and ruled that:

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"This decision sets a significant legal precedent on wrecks located beyond Greek territorial waters which had not been previously tested by Greek courts."

  • the Barcelona Convention and its protocol do not establish any obligation on the owners for wreck removal;
  • Law No. 2881/2001, which provides for wreck removal obligation, applies only to wrecks located in port areas, canals, waterways in Greece and in Greek territorial waters, but it does not apply to wrecks located beyond the Greek territorial waters; and
  • the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks of 2007, which provides for the obligation of removal of wrecks located in the exclusive economic zone of a state party or, if a state party, has not established such a zone, in areas beyond and adjacent to the territorial waters of that state (and no more than 200 nautical miles from the coast), has not been ratified by Greece, and therefore, does not apply in Greece.

In view of the above, the court held that the owners are not obliged to remove the wrecks and annulled the fine imposed against them.

This decision sets a significant legal precedent on wrecks located beyond Greek territorial waters which had not been previously tested by Greek courts.

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