Experts warned yesterday that the Sea Diamond ferry, which has yet to be salvaged off Santorini after sinking last year, poses an additional threat to the area due to the risk of contaminating the water from the island’s desalination unit.

The shipwreck, which still has hundreds of tons of fuel in its tanks, also contains heavy metals and other toxic substances that are soluble, according to Theodoros Tsimbidis, head of the environmental group Archepelagos.

These poisonous substances can affect the water from the desalination unit that is consumed by the people on Santorini and other islands, he told SKAI radio.

The ships’s salvage is something that is possible and needs to be done immediately based on plans prepared by two specialist companies, he added.