Blue Star Naxos is a ferry belonging to the fleet of the Greek shipping company Blue Star Ferries. The ship was delivered on June 7, 2002, to what was then Strintzis Lines, which was renamed Blue Star Ferries shortly thereafter. The sister ship of Blue Star Naxos is Blue Star Paros.
Technology Blue Star Naxos was launched at a shipyard belonging to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Ltd. and is powered by four Wärtsilä NSD-9L32 diesel engines. These engines deliver at 750 rpm each, for a total output of . This allows the ship to reach a speed of almost 24 knots.
The ship is loaded and unloaded via three stern ramps, two of which are for pedestrians only. The design is derived from Blue Star Ithaki, which was built two years earlier, but with a modified deck layout.
Special features This ship is the only Greek ship for which models are produced and sold at a scale of 1:1250.
Service Launched on 28 February 2002 at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd shipyard in Okpo with the name Blue Star Naxos and delivered on 7 June 2002 to the Greek Blue Star Ferries, she arrived on 24 June at Piraeus. On 30 June she was christened at Naxos. The following day she started service on the routes between Piraeus, Paros, Naxos, Santorini, and Amorgos, where she still operates.
Accidents and Incidents On 25 November 2019, during the morning hours, the Hellenic Coast Guard’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) was notified by the Master of Blue Star Naxos that the ship had run aground in shallow waters while departing from the port of Schinoussa. The grounding resulted in a hull breach and controlled water ingress into two empty reserve buoyancy tanks.
The ferry was operating a scheduled return itinerary from Katapola, Koufonisia, and Schinoussa to Heraklia, Naxos, Paros, and Piraeus, carrying 68 passengers and 64 crew members. No injuries were reported, and no marine pollution was detected.
As a precaution, the Naxos Port Authority placed a local patrol boat, private vessels, and a private diver on standby to assist, while a floating oil boom was preventively deployed around the vessel.
The ship was able to safely continue its transit under its own power and docked at the port of Naxos, where all passengers disembarked safely and were rerouted to their destinations by the shipowner. Following an extraordinary inspection by a Ship Inspection Branch official and the presentation of a class certificate from its classification society, the Naxos Port Authority cleared Blue Star Naxos to depart without cargo or passengers for a single voyage to Syros for drydocking and repairs at the local shipyard.
Sister ships Blue Star Paros (formerly Blue Star Ithaki )
References
External links
MarineTraffic: BLUE STAR NAXOS Official Blue Star Ferries: Naxos Deck Plan