PANAGIA AGIASSOU was a Greek Ro-Pax ferry with an unusually long international career and a particularly strong connection with Piraeus. Built in Japan in 1973 as HAKATA, the vessel spent more than three decades operating in Japan and South Korea before being acquired by SAOS Ferries and brought to Greece. Despite extensive conversion work, her Greek commercial career was remarkably short, while the years she subsequently spent laid up around Piraeus, Elefsis and Salamis became an equally important part of her history.
The ferry was constructed by Kanda Zosensho at Kure, Japan, as yard number 181. She measured 135.01 metres in length and 22.05 metres in beam and was powered by two Pielstick 16PC2-V400 diesel engines, giving a service speed of around 21 knots. Her passenger capacity was approximately 770, with 440 berths and space for about 261 cars.
Vessel Details
Name: PANAGIA AGIASSOU
Former Names: EUN, EUN HA, FERRY PUKWAN, FERRY KAMPU, HAKATA
IMO: 7351848
Former MMSI: 240555000
Type: Ro-Pax Passenger / Vehicle Ferry
Flag during Greek career: Greece
Home Port: Piraeus
Built: 1973
Delivered: 12 February 1973
Builder: Kanda Zosensho, Kure, Japan
Yard Number: 181
Former Operator in Greece: SAOS Ferries
Length Overall: 135.01 m
Beam: 22.05 m
Draught: approx. 5.20 m
Original Gross Tonnage: 6,591 GT
Gross Tonnage after conversion: approx. 5,719 GT
Deadweight: approx. 2,406 t
Main Engines: 2 × Pielstick 16PC2-V400
Speed: approx. 21 knots
Passenger Capacity: approx. 770
Berths: approx. 440
Vehicle Capacity: approx. 261 cars
Lane Metres: approx. 520 m
History
The vessel entered service in 1973 as HAKATA for Nishi Nihon Ferry in Japan. In 1984 she became FERRY KAMPU, retaining that identity for fourteen years. She was renamed FERRY PUKWAN in 1998 and subsequently EUN HA in 2002, operating between Shimonoseki and Busan for Pukwan Ferry. In 2005 her name was shortened to EUN shortly before the vessel was sold to Greek interests.
The ferry arrived at Perama on 9 December 2005 and underwent conversion work for Greek service. By August 2006 she had received the name PANAGIA AGIASSOU, although her introduction into service was repeatedly delayed. Corporate documents from SAOS in 2007 already listed the vessel as part of the group and under conversion for operation in Greece.
She finally entered service on 21 May 2008 on the Piraeus–Chios–Mytilene route. The service lasted only a few months. On 2 December 2008, amid the financial collapse of SAOS Ferries and unpaid obligations, PANAGIA AGIASSOU was arrested at Piraeus and withdrawn from service.
The Long Lay-Up Around Piraeus
After withdrawal, PANAGIA AGIASSOU spent years laid up around Piraeus and Elefsis. She remained alongside at Piraeus until 2013, when she was moved by tugs to an anchorage outside the port. A proposed sale for demolition that year did not materialise.
The vessel became headline news again on 18 January 2018, when severe weather caused her anchor chain to fail and the unmanned ferry began drifting in the Faliro/Piraeus area. Several tugs were dispatched, and PANAGIA AGIASSOU was eventually taken to the Spanopoulos facilities at Ambelakia, Salamis.
Sinking and Salvage
In February 2022, after years laid up at Ambelakia, PANAGIA AGIASSOU sank in shallow water alongside other inactive ferries. Ferry Shipping News reported that the ship had spent around twelve years laid up between Piraeus, the Saronic Gulf and the Spanopoulos yard before finally settling on the bottom.
The wreck was refloated in 2023, reportedly in preparation for eventual removal and demolition. However, photographic and forum documentation confirms that the vessel was still at the Spanopoulos yard in January 2024. I would therefore avoid writing that she has definitely been scrapped unless we find a later confirmed demolition record.
Piraeus Connection
Few inactive ferries became as closely associated with Piraeus as PANAGIA AGIASSOU. She arrived in the wider port area for conversion, was registered at Piraeus, briefly operated the Piraeus–Chios–Mytilene route, then spent years laid up around the port before her dramatic 2018 drifting incident and subsequent transfer to Salamis.
PiraeuShips Record
PANAGIA AGIASSOU was recorded in the Piraeus area by PiraeuShips during the long final chapter of her career. Although her actual Greek passenger service lasted only a few months in 2008, the former Japanese ferry became a familiar presence around Piraeus, Elefsis and Salamis for many years. Her transformation from HAKATA to PANAGIA AGIASSOU, followed by prolonged lay-up, drifting, sinking and eventual refloating, makes her one of the more unusual ferry histories preserved in the PiraeuShips visual archive.