A new series of aerial photographs taken by PIXSELL’s S Šime Zelić has revived the mystery of a ship that sank near the lighthouse at Veli Rat exactly 40 years ago. The Italian cargo ship Michelle, which was carrying fertiliser, ran aground in a storm in May 1983 just off the north-western cape of Dugi Otok, a two-hour ferry journey from Zadar.
According to testimony from the lighthouse keeper at the time, the savvy sailors took advantage of the conditions and deliberately diverted the ship into the shallows to claim insurance money for the ageing vessel. If they did, it was a rash move, for local residents of Veli Rat had to come to the rescue of the ailing crew.
While the Italians unloaded the cargo from the stranded ship and left it at the mercy of the sea, the event proved a turning point. After the Michelle disaster, a law was passed to force ship owners to retrieve their own wrecks from the sea.
Nevertheless, the Michelle stayed where she was, exposed for four decades to the waves and the weather. The hull remains surprisingly well preserved, the portholes of the lower deck still visible, as well as the mast – as photos show from recent aerial footage.
Only one question still hangs over from 1983: who will come and take away Michelle – and who will pay for it?