There was a powerful nor’easter on March 29th 1984, and the 473ft 16,000-ton Maltese freighter Eldia, in the open ocean off the coast of Cape Cod, was caught in the worst of it. Empty and without proper ballast after delivering  her cargo to New Brunswick, she was at the mercy of the storm and of the mighty Atlantic. Her Captain, Ernesto Garces, was unfamiliar with the area and the massive ship lacked contemporary technology for monitoring the weather system. Battered by wind and waves Captain Garces could no longer handle the freighter  and made the faithful decision to steer her toward shore and abandon ship. At around 4pm the Eldia ran aground on Nauset Beach in Orleans, MA; her crew were soon recused by the Coast Guard.  Word spread fast about the massive ship that had washed up on the beach, and soon locals and visitors alike flocked to see the wreck.

 My family went to check it out. It was easily  the biggest thing I had ever seen in my life up until that point. I also remember being quite disappointed that I couldn’t get too close to the ship or even climb inside her.

 Because of her size and location it was rather difficult to remove Eldia from Nauset Beach. Eventually on May 17, 1984 she was refloated and taken to a scrap-yard in Newport, Rhode Island. She was later brought to Staten Island, New York and finally cut for scrap sometime in the late 80s.

 

 The Eldia, as of this writing,  remains the biggest, and last, major shipwreck of Cape Cape

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