A life dedicated to shipwrecks

I met Stefano Benazzo recently in the port city of Piraeus thanks to an introduction from our common friend Annika Barbarigos, secretary-general of the Association of Traditional Boats. Looking through a series of wonderful photographs taken by the Italian diplomat who left a brilliant career after 40 years of service to dedicate himself to shipwrecks, I realized that he is a true aficionado, an artist, as I could almost have sworn I heard the creaks and sighs of the aging, abandoned vessels.

The Association of Traditional Boats is dedicated to salvaging Greece's wooden fishing boats from destruction under a subsidized European Union program to renew member-states' fishing fleets. Barbarigos took Benazzo to the site of many half-sunken ships in an area stretching from Elefsina near Piraeus to Gytheio in the southeast Peloponnese. Still buzzing from the excitement of his...