SOPHIA STAR (ΣΟΦΙΑ ΣΤΑΡ)
-Aegean Ventures
Built in 1955 (age 69). Registered in Thessaloniki. Current line: Mykonos-Rineia-Paros-Naxos
The historic sailing passenger ship SOPHIA STAR was built in 1955 in Greece as the VANGELIS, being initially used as a fishing boat on the Aegean Sea and Northern Africa for the fisherman Evangelos Stathakis. After forty years, rather than being sold for scrap, she was purchased by Macedonian Yachts and began a two-year-long conversion from a fishing boat to a passenger boat in Thessaloniki, and was renamed SOPHIA STAR. She was deployed on the Thessaloniki-Peraia line on the Thermaic Gulf. In 2006 she was sold to Elisabet Cruises, and was deployed on the Achilleion-Skiathos-Skopelos line on the Sporades. In 2011 she was deployed on the Kavala-Thassos line, before returning to the Achilleion-Skiathos-Skopelos line in 2012. She was then deployed on the Platamonas-Pieria line in 2013. She was sold in 2014 to Mykonos Cruises and was deployed on the Mykonos-Rineia-Paros-Naxos line. Two years later, she was sold to Aegean Ventures, and remained in the same service she was operating previously under Mykonos Cruises. The SOPHIA STAR is currently the oldest passenger ship in the Greek coastal service, all types included. She has also been designated as Historic Preserved Monument by the Greek Ministry of Culture, a title she obtained in 2000. This makes her the only passenger ship in Greece to receive this honour.
PHOTOS (2018):
The SOPHIA STAR resting in Mykonos (6/2018).
The SOPHIA STAR resting in Mykonos (6/2018).
The SOPHIA STAR resting in Mykonos (6/2018).
The SOPHIA STAR seen in Mykonos (6/2018).