Irakleia: failure on a speedboat with five on board

A speedboat flying the flag of Cyprus with five Greek nationals on board suffered a mechanical failure in the sea area between Naxos and Irakleia on Friday 21 August 2026. According to the information from the port authorities, the failure was due to the loss of a propeller blade, which limited the vessel’s ability to move normally. The alert was raised in the afternoon hours at the Naxos Port Authority, following notification from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre. A patrol boat of the Hellenic Coast Guard headed immediately to the area, as did the private pleasure craft “TRIBUTO”, flying the Swiss flag, which was close to the scene of the incident.

The speedboat eventually reached the port of Irakleia safely and all those on board were in good health, with no one needing to be taken to a health facility. The Naxos Port Authority banned the vessel from sailing until the failure is fully repaired and a certificate of seaworthiness is produced. A sailing ban is the standard measure taken in such incidents, so that a vessel does not travel again before it is certified as able to do so safely. The information does not state whether the speedboat made its way to the port under its own power or with the assistance of the vessels that rushed to help, nor whether any other damage was caused.

On the same day, separately and with no connection to the incident at sea, DEDDIE announced a scheduled power cut that will affect the whole island of Irakleia. According to the announcement, the cut will take place on Saturday 22 August 2026, from 07:30 to 09:30. These are two different matters that happened to be announced on the same day and that are unrelated to each other. The cut, as emerges from the announcement, covers the entire island and not individual settlements, a two-hour period at the start of the day. The announcement does not state the nature of the works for which the cut is being made, nor whether power may be restored earlier than the scheduled time, something usually noted in the operator’s bulletins.

Irakleia belongs to the Small Cyclades and is served mainly through its sea connections with Naxos, which makes incidents on that particular sea route immediately felt on the island, especially at the height of the tourist season. During the same period, the port of Naxos is closing to vehicles on 22 and 23 August, while a similar mobilisation of port authorities was recorded recently in an incident involving a tourist boat on Paros. It has not been announced when the speedboat’s failure is expected to be repaired, nor whether a further investigation into its causes is being carried out by the Naxos Port Authority. Nor has it become known whether the five people on board remained on Irakleia or continued their journey by other means.