Aqua Blue is a conventional passenger-roaming ship of the Seajets company. It is considered one of the most recognizable ships of the Greek coastal shipping fleet, as it has been serving for almost three decades in Greek seas, after an extensive renovation.
The ship was built in 1975 at the Kanda Zosencho Dockyards in Hiroshima, Japan, with the original name "Green Arch". In 1982, it was sold to Kurushima Dock KK as Okudogo No 8[1]. In 1991, it came to Greece on behalf of ANEK under the name "Kydon"[2]. It initially operated on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Trieste route. In 1995, it was renamed "Talos", after a major reconstruction with the aim of converting it into a modern 5-star cruise-ferry for the Adriatic and mainly Venice routes, while remaining on the same routes. In 1999, it was transferred to LANE and renamed "Ierapetra L". Based in Piraeus, it served the Agios Nikolaos-Sitia-Kasos-Karpathos-Rhodes routes. In 2005, there was an accident and the ship ran aground in Rhodes, but the passengers and their vehicles were safely transported on the ship Vitsentzos Kornaros of the same company. Since 2007, while it remained in LANE, it served the Piraeus-Chania/Rethymno line. In 2009, it returned to ANEK signals under the same name, serving lines in the Aegean, Ikaria, Samos and barren routes, thanks to its significant capacity. The ship suffered a tragic incident, around mid-2014. While sailing off the coast of Italy, a fire broke out in its engine room[3]. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished after it managed to return to Brindisi as quickly as possible. After the fire was extinguished, it returned to Greece and was decommissioned at Neos Molos, Drapetsonas. In 2016, ANEK intended to send it for scrapping, but in 2017 it joined the Seajets fleet and was renamed “Kiara”. After extensive renovation and reconstruction work, in 2018 it was named “Aqua Blue”[4].
The interior and exterior spaces of the ship are fully renovated and distributed over three decks:
Deck 6: Reception, "Poseidon" and "Aphrodite" flight lounges, cabins.
Deck 7: Large "Main" lounge with bar, self-service (180 people) and "Club" room, as well as cabins.
Deck 8: Discotheque with bar, "Aqua" lounge, open deck, cabins.
It has a total of 115 cabins (370 beds), 2 cabins for disabled people and 9 bow lux cabins of high comfort.
Bridge and engine room
The bridge maintains the classic Japanese semicircular design with a soft pistachio color. Features include the double metal steering wheel and the telegraph, elements of the Japanese shipbuilding school of the 1970s. The engine room houses the two main engines and the three electric engines, in excellent condition and cleanliness.
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Greece