From Tornos News yesterday:
The passenger ferry “Aghia Theodora,” which ran aground earlier on Tuesday in waters about four nautical miles northwest of the port of Igoumenitsa was pulled free with the assistance of tugboats and has arrived safely at Igoumenitsa port, ANA reports.1
Only three years before, the MV Express Samina inter-island ferry sank with 530 on board In September 2023, highlighting ‘fears about the safety of some of the ageing vessels that ply Aegean waters.‘2
One year ago:
A video that went viral showed 36-year-old Antonis Kargiotis running on to the loading ramp of the ferry in Athens port on Tuesday and crew members stopping him and pushing him back three times. Kargiotis fell into the sea, and despite passengers screaming that he was in the water, the ferry left as initially scheduled. His body was eventually recovered from the water.3
Greece’s merchant marine minister appeared to sympathise with the crew and was forced to resign.
In the last year alone, we’ve seen tales of dangerous overcrowding and elderly passengers having to walk with their cases though the waves onto the sand, after jetty collapses.
The guidebook Greek Island Hopping, had been warning readers about the Express Samina for years and still has warnings about many others including:
The Express Samina’s sister ship, the Naias II, now renamed the Express Naias and running from Piraeus to Mykonos. “The Naias II is a boat to be avoided at all costs. Sister to the equally awful Golden Verginia [former name of the Express Samina], she is just as slow and grimy and is – for many tourists – a less than happy introduction to the Greek ferry system . . . She was pilloried in a ferry safety report published on the internet – though these problems have now been resolved.”
The Karistos, built in 1968: “A tiny Greek-built ferry that rattles daily between Rafina and Karystos on Evia . . . if she wasn’t providing an ‘essential’ link service she would be a leading candidate in the ‘next tub for the scrapyard’ stakes; as it is, she is set to crawl for another five years.”
The Agios Rafail, built in 1968:”Arguably the least comfortable major ferry in the Aegean . . . the experience is something like being on a cross between the back of a floating lorry and a building site.” 4
Sources:
- https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/transport/ferries/50507-passenger-ferry-aghia-theodora-safely-in-igoumenitsa-port-after-running-aground.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2000/sep/30/4
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/11/greek-minister-miltiadis-varvitsiotis-resigns-death-ferry-passenger
- https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2000/sep/30/4
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
i have travelled on many greek ferries with comfort and without issue but a couple of years ago hellenicseaways introduced a new catamaran aero highspeed between Piraeus Athens and Hydra and the experience on board was shocking , frightening and without question unfit for the seas in question , at one point when we all thought it was going to tip over all the staff disappeared , where to we dont know but frighteningly i realised we were in what is akin to a tin can with windows that has one way in and that same one way out , if there was an emergency there woyld be a scramble for that one exit which made me think the staff had probably disappeared to that area.The waves washed over the height of the windows which are too low in the water for such a journey.This persuaded me that catermarans would not be suitable in Scottish waters.
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