SAOS II: A new boat
for Symi?
30 November 2006
It is very likely that from January 2007 a new boat will be doing the Kos-Nisiros-Tilos-Symi-Rhodes run (as well as the Rhodes-Kastelorizo-Rhodes one) replacing the PROTEUS. The car ferry SAOS II owned by "SAOS Ferries" seems to have been successful in the Government's invitation to tender for the subsidised routes in the Dodekanese islands which are currently being served by the PROTEUS.
The boat SAOS II, currently serving the Samothraki-Alexandroupoli route in the north of Greece, is only 6 years old (was launched in 2000), is 84 metres long and can cruise at 20.5 knots per hour (though according to SymiGreece sources ANES is currently disputing this), or 19 knots per hour (according to other sources). The main advantage of SAOS II (which seems to be a deciding factors for awarding the contract) is that it is only 6 years old (compared to the 33 years old PROTEUS) and because of its age can stay in the route for the next 6 years without the need for re-tendering. It is not yet clear what ANES will do with the PROTEUS if they lose the subsidised routes.
An official announcement is expected in the next couple of days by the Ministry of the Aegean and Island Policy.
An official announcement is expected in the next couple of days by the Ministry of the Aegean and Island Policy.
In addition to the tender for the subsidised Dodekanese routes, the Ministry has announced a subsidised route between Pireus and Symi which is currently out to tender. The results of the winning bidder are expected before Christmas.
The news come a couple of weeks after the start of the winter season which saw a substantial reduction to the boat connection between Symi and Rhodes (as well as with other Dodekanese islands and the mainland). As from the beginning of November:
(a) "Dodekanisos Seaways" with the boats PRIDE and EXPRESS suspended their inter-island service until March 2007.
(b) The once-a-week ferry connection between Symi and Pireus was suspended as "GA Ferries" decided to drop only the Symi stop from their itinerary despite pressure from the Municipality, numerous letters and a petition by the people for the ferries to continue stopping at Symi.
(c) The SYMI is also out of action. A week ago there was a meeting at the Town Hall where despite the pressure from the Municipality (and everybody attending the meeting) for SYMI to continue running during the winter months, ANES decided to go ahead with its winter timetable and take SYMI out of action.
At the moment and until the end of the year, only AEGLI and PROTEUS are in service. It's fortunate that it has been a very mild, warm and windless November so the AEGLI schedule has not been disrupted yet. However, if the winds do pick up, there may be severe disruption to the Symi-Rhodes connection as the AEGLI does not run even with moderately high winds and the PROTEUS serves other islands too.
The news come a couple of weeks after the start of the winter season which saw a substantial reduction to the boat connection between Symi and Rhodes (as well as with other Dodekanese islands and the mainland). As from the beginning of November:
(a) "Dodekanisos Seaways" with the boats PRIDE and EXPRESS suspended their inter-island service until March 2007.
(b) The once-a-week ferry connection between Symi and Pireus was suspended as "GA Ferries" decided to drop only the Symi stop from their itinerary despite pressure from the Municipality, numerous letters and a petition by the people for the ferries to continue stopping at Symi.
(c) The SYMI is also out of action. A week ago there was a meeting at the Town Hall where despite the pressure from the Municipality (and everybody attending the meeting) for SYMI to continue running during the winter months, ANES decided to go ahead with its winter timetable and take SYMI out of action.
At the moment and until the end of the year, only AEGLI and PROTEUS are in service. It's fortunate that it has been a very mild, warm and windless November so the AEGLI schedule has not been disrupted yet. However, if the winds do pick up, there may be severe disruption to the Symi-Rhodes connection as the AEGLI does not run even with moderately high winds and the PROTEUS serves other islands too.