Scuba Diving in Koundouros Reef, Kea Cyclades

On a night in February 1868, eight years after its construction, the luxury steamship “Otho”, later renamed to “Patris”, following the overthrow of King Otho, on whose order the steamship was built on the River Thames in England, hit the reef off Koundouros (Makriopounta) on a journey from Piraeus to Syros. The roughly 500 people who were on board survived. 

The wreck, which remained unknown even to the inhabitants of the island, was discovered after 138 years and after more than 30 plus dives in a period of three years. The hull, 217 feet in length and weighing 641 tones, was found cut in two pieces, at a depth between 28 and 54 m. According to the head of the exploration team, Mr. Vasilis Mentogiannis it is the first time that such a ship is discovered in the Mediterranean, which the newspapers of the time described as “one of the nicest, if not the greatest, steamship of the Greek Steamship Company”. The 30 objects that have been recovered can be seen on display at the Syros Industrial Museum.