Piraeus: Two-hour departure delay due to malfunction

The passenger-cargo vessel “Nisos Rhodes” finally departed from Piraeus with a two-hour delay, at 00:30 in the early morning of Sunday 6 September 2026, following a malfunction detected in the vessel’s stern ramp. The malfunction was identified around 22:10 in the evening of Saturday 5 September 2026, shortly before the scheduled departure, when the crew identified a problem in the mechanism used for loading and unloading vehicles from the stern. The briefing on the incident was given by the Hellenic Coast Guard, via the Piraeus port authority, which monitored the progress of repairs and the eventual departure of the vessel two hours after the scheduled departure time. A malfunction in a part of the vessel such as the ramp is considered a matter requiring immediate and careful inspection before departure is permitted, since this mechanism is also used upon arrival of the vessel at intermediate and final ports.

According to information provided by the port authority, a total of 424 passengers were aboard the vessel at the time of departure, while 106 passenger cars, 39 trucks, one bus and 11 motorcycles had been loaded in the vessel’s garages. The large number of passengers and vehicles indicates that this was a high-traffic route, something expected for early September, a period when travel to and from the islands continues. The malfunction of the ramp, a critical component for safe loading and unloading of vehicles, forced the crew to proceed with inspection and repair before departure was permitted, a procedure that ultimately lasted approximately two hours.

The destination of the route was Serifos and Heraklion, with the result that the two-hour delay in departure from Piraeus correspondingly shifted the arrival of the vessel at the two destinations. For passengers travelling to Serifos, typically the first stop of smaller routes on the line, the delay meant waiting on the vessel or in the boarding area until late Saturday night. The passengers disembarking at Serifos were those most affected by the wait, as it was the first intermediate stop on the route after Piraeus. Delays of this type on routes with such a large number of passengers and vehicles typically also affect the scheduling of subsequent sailings of the same vessel, as arrival at the final destination is correspondingly shifted by the same length of time.

The Hellenic Coast Guard did not announce the cause of the malfunction in the “Nisos Rhodes” stern ramp, nor did it clarify whether this is mechanical wear or another technical problem. It was also not made known whether any form of compensation is planned for the 424 passengers who travelled that evening, nor whether the company operating the route plans any related announcement to passengers. To date, the only official information remains that of the Hellenic Coast Guard regarding the two-hour delay and the eventual departure of the vessel at 00:30 Sunday, with no reference to injuries or other safety issues.