Blue-Star-Chios

After the death of a crew member of the 'Blue Star Chios', a 24-hour strike of the seamen’s union PEMEN over the fatal injury of athe seaman blocked ferries at the port of Piraeus on Sep 25. The strike was affecting all ferries out of Piraeus to the Aegean islands and Crete. A few services were still available to the Saronic islands The engine maintenance worker had been fatally crushed by a bulkhead door on the Rhodes ferry. The PEMEN union initially blocked only the 'Blue Star Chios', before calling for an overall strike at Piraeus port. Until the incident is investigated, the ship will not leave Piraeus. Another seaman was admitted to hospital on Sep 25, after being electrocuted during maintenance work onboard an Adriatic Sea ferry.

On the morning of Sep 24, the Tzelepi Port Authority was informed of the death of a 20-year-old crew member of the passenger-'Blue Star Chios'. The cleaner was trapped in a watertight door of the ship, resulting in a fatal injury. The ship, which was on a scheduled route from the port of Rhodes to the ports of Chalki-Diafani-Karpathos-Kassos-Anafi-Thira-Piraeus, sailed to the port of Piraeus, where the man was picked up by an ambulance and taken to the “Tzaneio” General Hospital of Piraeus, where he was pronounced dead. The 1st Port Department of Tzelepi of the Central Port Authority of Piraeus, which was conducting the preliminary investigation, arrested the Master and the 1st Engineer of the ship, for violation of article 302 of the Criminal Code “Murder by negligence”. The two arrested were brought to the Piraeus First Instance Prosecutor's Office and temporarily released, while a preliminary examination was ordered.

On the morning of Aug 5, upon the arrival of the 'Blue Star Chios' at the port of Pigadia, Karpathos, a 36-year-old Greek passenger jumped into the water from the deck of the ship. Immediately, Port Authority officials as well as crew members of theferry proceeded to rescue the man,, using life jackets. He was pulled from the water and then taken to the General Hospital of Karpathos for precautionary reasons, where he remained hospitalized. A preliminary investigation was onducted by the Karpathos Port Authority.

On the early morning of July 31, the Heraklion Port Authority was informed that during the arrival at the port, the 'Blue Star Chios' suffered a ramp failure occurred. The ferry was operating a scheduled route from the port of Thira with 276 passengers, 35 private vehicles, five trucks and nine motorcycles on board. The Central Port Authority of Heraklion initially prohibited the departure of the ferry. After the presentation of a certificate of repair of the damage and maintenance of seaworthiness from the classification society that monitors it, it was allowed to continue sailing to Sitia-Kassos-Pigadia Karpathos-Rhodes with 364 passengers, 60 private vehicles, 10 trucks and 12 motorcycles.

On June 1, the 'Blue Star Chios', on a scheduled route from Rhodes to Piraeus, rescued 75 migrants, among them 43 men, 14 women and 15 minors, from a sinking sailboat southeast of Karpathos, which had issued a distress call approximately 14.4 nautical miles off the southeastern coast of the island in the Aegean Sea, prompting a swift response from Greek Maritime Authorities. The MRCC of the Greek Coast Guard launched an SAR operation and dispatched a liefeboat. Nearby vessels also responded promptly to the distress alert. The ferry, which was carrying approximately 200 passengers, altered its course and took on board all migrants. No injuries were reported. The migrants were taken to the port of Piraeus. The Central Port Authority of Piraeus, which was conducting the preliminary investigation, identified three of the rescued, all Iranian nationals, aged 27, 37 and 28, as human traffickers. They were arrested for violating article 83 of Law 3386/2005 "Illegal entry into the country", article 25 of Law 5038/2023 "Facilitating", article 45 of the Criminal Code "Abetment" and article 306 of the Criminal Code "Report". According to a statement by the rescued, they set off on the afternoon of May 31 from the wider area of ​​Bodrum, paying amounts of money ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 euros for their transport to Greece. During their transport, the yacht suffered water ingress, resulting in it sinking.

In the midday hours of April 13, 2025, the Halki Port Authority was informed that the'Blue Star Chios', during its arrival at the port of Halki, experienced a malfunction in the electric automatic folding system of the central ramp. Theferry safely moored at the port and disembarked 86 passengers from the starboard side stern ramp, while after manual folding of the central ramp, 21 cars were disembarked. The Halki Port Station of the Central Port Authority of Rhodes initially banned the ship from sailing. Upon presentation of a seaworthiness certificate from the monitoring classification society, the ship was permitted tcontinue its approved route with destination to the ports of Diafani Karpathos - Pigadia Karpathos - Kasos - Sitia - Heraklion - Anafi - Thira - Piraeus.

On the evening of Sep 7, the Central Port Authority of Rhodes was informed by the Captain of the 'Blue Star Chios' that a crew member had suffered a fracture of the metacarpal bone on board the ship. The victim was taken to the Rhodes General Hospital for medical treatment. A preliminary investigation was carried out by the Port Authority of Rhodes.