HSC ''Santorini Palace'' (ex ''Highspeed 7, Highspeed 5'') is an 85m
high speed catamaran
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...
operated by
Minoan Lines.
History
The vessel was built as ''Highspeed 5'' by
Austal at
Henderson, Australia in 2005, on order by
Greek ferry operator
Hellenic Seaways.
She entered service with Hellenic Seaways in July 2005, initially sailing between
Piraeus and
Cyclades and in later years between
Heraklion and central
Cyclades. In 2016, after being repaired due to fire, she was renamed ''Highspeed 7''.
In early summer 2018, ''Highspeed 7'' was transferred to
Minoan Lines as part of the deal for the sale of Minoan's stake in
Hellenic Seaways to
Attica Group. She was renamed ''Santorini Palace'' and painted in Minoan's colors on June 13, 2018.
Fire incident and change of name to HS7
On March 23, 2015, while ''Highspeed 5'' was docked at
Drapetsona
Drapetsona ( el, Δραπετσώνα) is a suburb and a former municipality in the southwestern part of the Pireaus regional unit in the Athens Urban Area. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Keratsini-Drapetson ...
for modification works and inspections, a fire broke out on board that resulted in the death of the chief electrician and the destruction of her
bridge and upper decks.
In September 2015, the vessel was towed to
Fincantieri shipyards in
Trieste, where she underwent extensive repairs. During them, the upper car deck was substituted with a passenger lounge, increasing her capacity to 1160 passengers. After being repaired, she was renamed ''Highspeed 7'' and resumed her
Heraklion -
Cyclades service in mid June 2016.
References
External links
Austal Ships - Auto Express 85 - ''Highspeed 5'' specificationsSantorini Palace at Minoan Lines Website
Gallery
File:Highspeed_7_-_HSW_-_Heraklion_-_Portside.jpg, In HSW colors at Heraklion
File:Highspeed 7 - HSW - Santorini - Portside.jpg, In HSW colors at Santorini
Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the ...
File:HSWHighSpeed5.jpg, As Highspeed 5 in older colors at Ios
File:Highspeed5 Piraeus 20110706.jpg, As Highspeed 5 at Piraeus
File:Paros Hellenic Seaways Highspeed 5 07.jpg, As Highspeed 5 during a docking maneuver at Paros
File:Paros Hellenic Seaways Highspeed 5 09.jpg, As Highspeed 5 at Paros
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Ships built by Austal
Ferries of Greece
Individual catamarans
2005 ships