Blue Star Patmos


Blue Star Patmos is a fast ferry operated by the Greek company Blue Star Ferries. Built between 2010 and 2012 by Daewoo Shipbuilding in South Korea, it has been sailing since July 2012 on Blue Star Ferries routes in the Aegean Sea.

History

Origins and construction

At the dawn of the 2010s, Blue Star Ferries considered strengthening its fleet dedicated to serving the Aegean Sea archipelagos. Throughout the previous decade, the company had expanded its network with the opening of new routes to the Dodecanese and the North Aegean, in addition to its long-standing connections with the Cyclades. With this promising outlook, the shipping company placed an order for two new ferries with the South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
Based on the design of the three previous Blue Star ferries—Ithaki, Paros, and Naxos —also built by the same shipyards, the new vessels represent a significant evolution compared to their predecessors. In addition to being larger and faster, they are also much more comfortable, despite a deliberately compact size to allow easy access to all ports.
The second of them, named Blue Star Patmos, was laid down at Okpo on June 23, 2010, and launched on June 27, 2011. After finishing work, it was delivered to Blue Star Ferries on June 12, 2012.

Service

After leaving South Korea to reach Greece, Blue Star Patmos arrived for the first time at Piraeus on July 9, 2012. The ship was then put into service on July 10, initially between Piraeus and the North Aegean.
On August 30, 2017, while entering the port of Ios, Blue Star Patmos ran aground in shallow waters at around 1:30 a.m. The 205 passengers and 87 crew members were safely evacuated and brought ashore by other ships and fishing boats that had responded to the distress call. Blue Star Patmos was refloated on September 8 and taken to Piraeus. It was then repaired at the Perama shipyard.
During a technical stop in spring 2020, the ship was fitted with scrubbers, a flue gas cleaning device designed to reduce its sulfur emissions. Their installation required the enlargement of the funnel, which appears more massive, while retaining its original shape.

Facilities

Blue Star Patmos has ten decks. Passenger quarters cover all of decks 6, 7 and 8. The crew is housed on the forward section of deck 5. Decks 3 and 4 are entirely dedicated to the garage, as well as the aft section of deck 5 and the forward sections of decks 1 and 2.

Common areas

The common area facilities aboard Blue Star Patmos are located on decks 6, 7 and 8. The ship is equipped with a snack bar at the rear, a self-service restaurant and a lounge reserved for economy class on deck 6, a lounge and bar reserved for business class as well as an outdoor bar on deck 7 and finally, several outdoor areas on deck 8. The ship also has a shop.

Cabins

Blue Star Patmos has 90 cabins located mostly on deck 7 but also on deck 8, towards the front of the ship. Accommodating two to four people, all cabins have private bathrooms including shower, toilet and sink.

Features

The vessel is long and wide, and assessed at. The ship has a passenger capacity of 2,000 and a garage with space for 600 vehicles spread over three and a half levels. The garage is accessible via two ramp doors located at the stern. Blue Star Patmos is powered by four MAN-B&W 16V32/40 diesel engines, each producing of power, driving two propellers that propel the vessel at a maximum speed of. The ship carries four large lifeboats, a rigid inflatable rescue boat, and several life rafts. Since 2020, Blue Star Patmos has been equipped with scrubbers, a system designed to reduce its sulfur emissions.

Routes served

Since its commissioning, Blue Star Patmos has been assigned to the Blue Star Ferries lines in the Aegean Sea and serves the archipelagos of the Cyclades, the Dodecanese or the North Aegean from Piraeus depending on the period.