''Blue Star Chios'' (), formerly ''Nissos Chios'' (), is a high-speed

ro-pax Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

Blue Star Ferries Blue Star Maritime S.A., operating under the brand name Blue Star Ferries, is a Greece-based company founded in 1993 which provides ferry services between the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands. Blue Star Ferries is the biggest ferry company ...

, built, along with its sister ship ''

Blue Star Mykonos ''Blue Star Mykonos'' () is a ferry owned by Blue Star Ferries that currently operates most commonly on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Samos-Chios-Mytilene-Kavala route. It is driven by four Wartsila 12V38 main diesel engines and has an operati ...

'', at

Elefsis Shipyards Elefsis Shipyards is a Greek shipbuilding company, also involved in other industrial constructions. Founded in 1968, it has constructed many types of ships, including the largest bulk carriers built in Greece, as well as military ships. The latte ...

. It was an old wish of Gerasimos Strintzis. In February 2006 the first pieces of the ship were loaded at Skararamangas and were transported to Elefsis Shipyards and on November 15, 2006, construction was launched at Elefsis Shipyards. It was delivered in June 2007 for

Hellenic Seaways Hellenic Seaways is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1984. Hellenic Seaways is a subsidiary of Attica Group along with Blue Star Ferries and Superfast Ferries. History ''Ceres Hellenic Shipping Enterprises'' owned by the Livanos fam ...

. Its construction was completed in a very short time. The original name of the ship means in Greek "Island of

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

", which is one of the islands of the

North Aegean The North Aegean Region (, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, and the smallest of the thirteen by population. It comprises the islands of the north-eastern Aegean Sea, called the North Aegean islands, except for Thasos an ...

. It was, when launched, the newest Greek ship with frequent travels. In January 2020 the ''Nissos Chios'' was renamed ''Blue Star Chios'' together with its sister ship ''Nissos Mykonos'', which was renamed ''

'', after the ships changed service from Hellenic Seaways to Blue Star Ferries. There was a 1967-built Greek passenger-car ferry with the same name. The old ''Nissos Chios'' was scrapped in 2006.

Routes

Sailing from Piraeus the ship serves several Cyclades' islands within Blue Star's COVID caused reduced schedule.

References

External links

* Ferries of Greece Ships built in Greece 2006 ships Ships of Blue Star Ferries {{Greece-transport-stub