Santorini: cruise ship loses part of its anchor

An incident involving a Malta-flagged cruise ship at the Thira anchorage became known on Friday 21 August 2026, at 16:16, based on information from the Hellenic Coast Guard. According to the report, in the evening hours and shortly before the ship’s scheduled departure, part of the anchor was lost while it was being hauled up from the seabed – specifically its flukes, that is the part that hooks into the bottom and holds the ship in place. No injury to a passenger or crew member was reported during the process, and no pollution was observed in the sea area. The rest of the anchor was hauled up and the ship remained at the anchorage until the checks by the competent authorities were completed. The anchor and its mechanism are basic safety equipment for any ship, which is why damage of this kind immediately triggers a checking procedure before any new departure.

The Thira Port Authority initially banned the cruise ship from sailing. It asked the recognised organisation that surveys the ship for a certificate of seaworthiness, that is a written confirmation that the ship can safely continue its voyage despite the damage suffered by the anchoring equipment. After the document was produced, the port authority allowed the ship to continue its itinerary as normal. This is the procedure followed when damage is recorded to equipment related to the safety of a ship: departure is permitted only after the matter has been covered by the competent organisation, which certifies that the vessel meets the requirements to travel.

The report leaves several points open and they are not filled in here. The cruise ship is not named and the exact date of the incident is not given – it is stated only that it happened in the evening hours, without the day being specified. Nor is the number of passengers on board specified, or the next destination on the itinerary. The cause of the loss is also not stated, that is whether it is attributed to wear of the equipment, to the morphology of the seabed or to some other factor. Finally, it is not made clear where and when the damage to the anchor is to be repaired, or whether the part that was lost was located on the seabed.

For Thira, where cruise traffic peaks in August and ships remain anchored offshore, incidents involving vessels at the anchorage as a rule end up as checks by the port authority. In previous days the authorities had announced offences on 12 out of 26 tourist boats as part of maritime checks in the area, while a similar mobilisation of port authority forces had also taken place in an incident involving a tourist boat on Paros. As far as this particular cruise ship is concerned, the case appears to have concluded with the issuing of the certificate and the ship’s departure, with no further development, penalty or restriction announced. The port authorities have not disclosed whether the incident affected the passengers’ programme or the ship’s departure time from Thira.