Greece's Culture Ministry under the guidance of the Central Council for Modern Monuments is allowing access to 91 ship and aircraft wrecks to recreational divers.
Selected by the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, which oversees underwater archaeological activities in Greece, the wrecks date back to the 1868-1970 period, predominantly the WW2-era.
They are located across Attica, the South and North Aegean regions, Crete, Central Macedonia, the Ionian Islands Region, Western and Central Greece, Epirus, the Peloponnese, and Thessaly.
"The seabed of the Greek seas is an underwater ark of our history,” said Greece's Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni.
“These protected underwater areas, where shipwrecks from World War Two are located, open the pages of Modern Greek history."
There are also a number of notable British wrecks, including the Titanic’s sister-ship HMHS Britannic, the submarine HMS Perseus and the minesweeper HMS BYMS 2077.
Greek, Australia, Italian, German and American vessels are also listed.
Mendoni highlighted that the combination of diving parks with the underwater areas that host and protect historic shipwrecks is a great advantage for Greece.
“We must make use of it, because it adds value to tourism and creates conditions for sustainable development of local communities," she concluded.
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