The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some 215,000 km2 (83,000 sq mi). In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn connects to the Black Sea, by the straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, respectively. The Aegean Islands are located within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery, including Crete and Rhodes. The sea reaches a maximum depth of 2,639 m (8,658 ft) to the west of Karpathos. The Thracian Sea and the Sea of Crete are main subdivisions of the Aegean Sea.
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete rests about 160 km (99 mi) south of the Greek mainland, and about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Anatolia. Crete has an area of 8,450 km2 (3,260 sq mi) and a coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi). It bounds the southern border of the Aegean Sea, with the Sea of Crete to the north and the Libyan Sea to the south. Crete covers 260 km from west to east but is narrow from north to south, spanning three longitudes but only half a latitude.
Heraklion or Herakleion, sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a municipal population of 179,302 (2021) and 211,370 in its wider metropolitan area, according to the 2011 census.
Superfast Ferries is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1993 by Pericles Panagopulos and Alexander Panagopulos. Superfast Ferries is a member of Attica Group and operates 5 car-passenger ferries, offering daily connections between Ancona and Bari in Italy, and Patras and Igoumenitsa in Greece. Together with Blue Star Ferries, Africa Morocco Link, ANEK Lines and Hellenic Seaways, it is a subsidiary company of Attica Group, which is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.
ANEK Lines was one of the largest passenger shipping companies in Greece. It was founded in 1967 by numerous shareholders who were inhabitants of Crete. It operated passenger ferries, mainly on Piraeus-Crete and Adriatic Sea lines.
Minoan Lines is one of the largest passenger ferry companies in Europe, and one of the dominant passenger ferry companies in Greece, sailing between Piraeus and Crete and, in the Adriatic Sea, between Patras and various Italian ports. The company was founded in May 1972. Since 2008 Grimaldi's Compagnia di Navigazione SpA owns and controls 95.9 of the stock of Minoan Lines.
The HSC Champion Jet 1 is an 86m fast catamaran ferry operated by Seajets Ferries. She was until early 2015 owned by Condor Ferries and called HSC Condor Vitesse.
Gareth Alun Owens is a British-Greek academic, currently serving as Associate Director and «Erasmus/Socrates» Manager/Tutor of the International Relations Office of the Hellenic Mediterranean University and as Associate Professor of Hellenic Culture -- History, Language and Civilization. He is notable for his contributions to Linear B studies and for his attempts to coordinate the efforts of academics to decipher Linear A.
The climate in Greece is predominantly Mediterranean. However, due to the country's geography, Greece has a wide range of micro-climates and local variations. The Greek mainland is extremely mountainous, making Greece one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. To the west of the Pindus mountain range, the climate is generally wetter and has some maritime features. The east of the Pindus mountain range is generally drier and windier in summer. The highest peak is Mount Olympus, 2,918 metres (9,573 ft). The northern areas of Greece have a transitional climate between the continental, the Mediterranean and the humid subtropical climate. There are mountainous areas that have an alpine climate. Also, various areas of Greece have semi-arid climates.
Attica Holdings S.A. is an operator of international ferry services in Europe. Attica Group's operations include its subsidiaries Superfast Ferries, which began in 1995 with the launch of its first ships, Superfast I & Superfast II, and Blue Star Ferries which operates ferries in the Aegean Sea to the Greek islands. In June 2018 Attica Group increased its share in Hellenic Seaways to 98.83%. Hellenic Seaways is 100% controlled by the Attica Group following the acquisition of minority interest of 1.17% in July 2019. In December 2023 it absorbed 100% of ANEK Lines, rendering the operator number two in the number of passengers commuted in Europe.
Blue Star Maritime S.A., operating under the brand name Blue Star Ferries, is a Greece-based company founded in 1993 which provides ferry services between the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands.
MS Cruise Ausonia is a fast Ro-Pax jumbo ferry owned by the Grimaldi Lines and sails on the Livorno-Palermo route. She was built in 2002 for Superfast Ferries as MS Superfast XII by a shipyard in Lübeck, Germany, and is the last vessel of 12. She is a sister ship of Superfast XI.
Blue Star Mykonos is a ferry owned by Blue Star Ferries that currently operates most commonly on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Samos-Chios-Mytilene-Kavala route. It is driven by four Wartsila 12V38 main diesel engines and has an operating speed of 25 knots, making it faster than all other big ferries currently serving the Cyclades Islands and North Aegean. The ferry is a sister ship to Blue Star Chios.
MS Kydon Palace is a Greek Ro-Pax high speed ferry, built in 2001 at the Sestri Ponente shipyards by Fincantieri as Festos Palace for Minoan Lines' overnight services between Piraeus and Crete. Initially she ran to Heraklion. In 2020 she was transferred to the Piraeus–Chania route and renamed Kydon Palace She is a sister ship of Knossos Palace. She can reach speeds up to 30 knots. The ship's facilities include restaurants, bars and cabins.
The MV Al Salmy 4 was a former train ferry, converted to RO-RO/Passenger ferry.
The HSC Highspeed 4 is a 92,5m high speed catamaran operated by Hellenic Seaways.
The HSC Santorini Palace, built as Highspeed 5, later Highspeed 7, for Hellenic Seaways, is an 85m high speed catamaran owned by Minoan Lines. In January 2024 she was chartered to Seajets.
Seajets is a Greek/Cypriot ferry company operating passenger and freight ferry services in the Aegean Sea.
The HSF Cruise Bonaria is a Ro-Pax high speed ferry, built in 2000 at the Sestri Ponente shipyards by Fincantieri and owned by Grimaldi Lines previously owned by Minoan Lines as Knossos Palace. It can accommodate up to 2,500 passengers and 700 cars, and has 758 beds plus 742 airseats for passengers. The vessel is powered by four 4x Wärtsilä 16V46C diesel engines with a combined power of 67,517 kW, which give her a top 'speed of 31,6 knots. In November 2020 Minoan Lines announced that Knossos Palace exchanged with her former ship Cruise Bonaria previously named Olympia Palace. The first sold to Grimaldi Lines and renamed it Cruise Bonaria and the other one renamed Knossos Palace. The former Knossos Palace was under the Minoan Lines 20 years. For 20 years did the Piraeus-Heraklion route. The ship left Greece forever on 24 November and arrived in Napoli, Italy after two days. In there will change signals and name.
€704.3 million (2014) [7] 
€895.7 million (2014) [7] 
