Departure ban on the «IONIS» from Kea

The passenger-vehicle ferry «IONIS» was banned from departing on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, from the port of Kea due to a mechanical fault, according to information from the Coast Guard as reported by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) at 10:13. The ship was due to operate its scheduled route from Kea to Lavrio, carrying a total of 110 passengers, 20 private cars, four trucks and one motorcycle. The ban was imposed before the scheduled departure, so that the vessel would not go to sea with the problem that had been identified.

A departure ban is a standard safety procedure applied by port authorities whenever a technical problem is identified on a ship before departure, in order to prevent any risk to passengers, vehicles and crew. It is a Coast Guard responsibility, which also informed ANA-MPA about the matter immediately after the decision was made, on Tuesday morning. In the coastal shipping network of the Cyclades, where Kea functions as a key connection point with Lavrio and the rest of Attica, such an incident has a direct impact on the daily life of residents and visitors who rely on this specific route for travel, supplies and work. The Kea–Lavrio line serves a significant number of passengers and vehicles daily, as it is the shortest connection of the island with the mainland, and any interruption of it has immediate consequences for both individuals and professionals transporting goods by truck.

For the passengers and vehicles that had planned their journey with the «IONIS», forwarding to the final destination will be carried out by arrangement of the ship-owning company, as stated in the Coast Guard’s update. This means that responsibility for serving the 110 passengers, the 20 private cars, the four trucks and the one motorcycle that had boarded or were due to board for the route passes to the company operating the ship, which is called upon to organise an alternative means of transporting them. No further details have been made public about the nature of the mechanical fault or the time of its repair, information that is expected to determine when the ship will again be able to operate its routes normally.

The incident is a reminder of the importance of the reliability of the coastal shipping network for the islands of the Cyclades, especially on routes such as this one from Kea that serve daily needs and not only seasonal tourist traffic. The large number of vehicles affected — almost double the number of passenger cars that usually accompany such a route, if the trucks are also counted — shows the line’s role in transporting goods to and from the island as well. Until there is an official update on the repair of the fault, those affected remain waiting for instructions from the ship-owning company regarding the way and time of their forwarding to Lavrio or another destination.