Naxos News

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment has delivered the first vessel in a series of three new ambulance boats for the Hellenic Coastguard.For many years, the Coastguard and the Hellenic National Center for Emergency Care (EKAB) have worked together to support patient transfer requirements from the Greek islands to larger hospitals. Today, a call for transport services is almost a daily occurrence.The new closed-cabin boat will be station in Naxos as the first in a series of special craft equipped with medical equipment.

As a result of the recent successful completion of sea trials on-board the high speed car and passenger ferry, Blue Star Delos, Eco Marine Power (EMP) has now cleared the Aquarius MAS + Solar and Aquarius Marine Solar Power solutions for commercial release. During two days of testing and evaluation on the 17th and 19th May, 2015, the performance of the Aquarius MAS + Solar trial system on-board Delos was assessed by both EMP and Blue Star Ferries technical personnel as part of the Blue Star Delos Renewable Energy Innovation Project. Aquarius MAS + Solar is an innovative renewable energy solution for ships and the trial system includes a 2.3 kWp marine solar panel array, a 5.4 kWhr battery pack, MPPT charge controllers, a marine computer plus associated communications and interface devices.

Below is a list of vessel sales for August, 2013 prepared by Shipping Intellegence, Inc., New York. All sale Prices are listed in Millions USD.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE:ANW) announced on Jan. 7 that it has taken delivery of the Naxos, a 4,600 dwt double-hull bunkering tanker newbuild from Fujian Southeast Shipyard in China. The vessel is expected to be deployed to the Company's Singapore market. E. Nikolas Tavlarios, President, commented, "We are pleased to take delivery of the Naxos, which represents our eleventh bunkering tanker newbuilding since going public in December 2006. By successfully increasing our delivery capacity, we expect to further strengthen our position to meet the strong demand for marine fuel and continue to grow sales volumes.

Mark van Schaick Marine Services is a relatively new company, based in Schiedam (Port of Rotterdam) specializing in crankshaft repair, repair of engine and industrial parts, technical consultancy, and marine and industrial spare parts. The company has capacity at its workshop for grinding crankshafts up to 20 ft. (6 m) on a lathe built by Naxos Union. As a result of a co-operation with Mitchell Shackleton in the U.K., crankshafts up to 39.5 ft. (12 m) can be repaired. Every possible kind of crankshaft can be checked, ground, polished, straightened, hardchrome-plated and hardchrome-ground. If a client requests, the company will undergo inspection by certification and classification societies. Repairs can also be carried out on turbine parts, engine blocks, connecting rods and pistons.

The crew of Greek ferry Express Samina that sank killing 72 people blamed the disaster on bad weather, saying the ship would not obey commands. "The weather threw me on the rocks," one of the charged crewmembers said. The vessel's captain Vassilis Yannakis and three other crewmembers have been charged with manslaughter and were being held on Syros pending further investigation into how the ferry hit an islet and sunk shortly before reaching the island of Paros. Authorities are still mulling over how the ship, which was carrying more than 500 passengers, could have hit a well-charted islet with a lighthouse less than two miles from the shore. Witnesses have expressed that some of the crewmembers had been watching a soccer game on television just before the accident occurred.

A Greek ferry with 1,081 passengers aboard ran aground as it was about to dock in an Aegean island port early on Friday but there were no injuries, the merchant marine ministry said. The incident in Naxos port occurred less than three days after another ferry with the same owner hit rocks and sank off a nearby island, Paros, killing at least 65 people - Greece's worst maritime tragedy since the mid-1960s. A merchant marine spokesman said the Express Artemis, a vehicle and passenger ferry, got stuck in Naxos harbor early Friday morning during a run between Piraeus and various islands in the Cycladic chain, including Paros. "After about three hours, the ferry managed to dislodge itself by its own means and docked safely in the port.

The Greek government has ordered the mobilization of nine ships and ferries to the islands of Crete,Paros and Naxos amid the nationwide seamen's strike. Ferries remain moored in harbors and over 2,500 trucks are stranded at ports across the country, owing to the strike which is planned to run till Feb. 24. The seamen have said they would not allow any ship or ferry to sail, and that the government order was illegal, as it had not been signed by the president of the country. Meanwhile, the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation said it was determined to continue the strike in the main ports in order to add force to its demands. The strike was having a crippling effect on business…

Blue Star Naxos is the third RoPax, which was constructed under Greek flag and delivered by DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. Ltd.) in June 2002 in compliance with the requirements of BV. This vessel is the one of twins and the sister (Blue Star Paros) had been delivered just one and half month ahead of the vessel in April 2002. Classed by BV, the vessel has two car decks and two accommodation decks, while the upper garage deck level is divided into the fore half car space and the aft half crew cabins. This layout allowed the complete separation of the above passenger decks from the lower decks machinery noise and vibration.

Minoan Flying Dolphins acquired four ferries operating on routes to the Cyclades islands and the Argosaronic gulf. The vessels, which link the port of Piraeus with Paros, Naxos, Ios and Santorini with route extensions to Sikinos, Astypalea and Folegandros are expected to contribute about $7.9 million in revenues to the firm's total turnover. The latest purchases bring the company's total fleet to 67 vessels.