HSF''Cruise Bonaria'' is a Ro-Pax high speed

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

, built in 2000 at the

Sestri Ponente Sestri Ponente is an industrial suburb of Genoa in northwest Italy. It is part of the Medio Ponente ''municipio'' of Genoa. Geography It is situated on the Ligurian Sea four miles to the west of the city, between Pegli and Cornigliano. Its pop ...

shipyards by

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

and owned by

Grimaldi Lines The Grimaldi Group is a private shipping company owned by the Grimaldi family (Emanuele Grimaldand based in Naples, Italy. Grimaldi operates a large fleet of ro-ro, ro-ro/multipurpose, con-ro multipurpose, PCTC (Pure Car and Truck Carrier), ro ...

previously owned by

Minoan Lines Minoan Lines is one of the largest passenger ferry companies in Europe, and one of the dominant passenger ferry companies in Greece, sailing between Piraeus and Crete and in the Adriatic Sea, between Patras and various Italian ports. The company ...

. It can accommodate up to 2,500 passengers and 700 cars, and has 758 beds plus 742 airseats for passengers. The vessel is powered by four 4x

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

16V46C diesel engines with a combined power of 67,517 kW, which give her a top 'speed of 31,6 knots. In November 2020

announced that ''Knossos Palace'' exchanged with her former ship ''Cruise Bonaria'' previously named ''Olympia Palace''. The first sold to

and renamed it ''Cruise Bonaria'' and the other one renamed ''Knossos Palace''. The former ''Knossos Palace'' was under the

20 years. For 20 years did the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

route. The ship left

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

forever on 24 November and arrived in

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

after two days. In there will change signals and name.

Route

''Knossos Palace'' served the overnight route

- Heraklio and Heraklio - Piraeus, except for some rare occasions in which it replaces other ships of Minoan Lines in their routes. During the holiday season, it occasionally operated during daytime, completing her voyage in 8 hours.

Accidents and incidents

On November 19, 2003 ''Knossos Palace'' was sailing 40 nm northwest of Heraklion en route from

when a fire broke out on board. The fire was caused by a truck in the vessel's garage that was carrying chemicals. The crew swiftly dealt with the emergency and the fire was put out using the sprinkler system before causing major damage. However, the fire damaged the cables powering the passenger

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

, which became inoperable. As a result, an airport staircase had to be brought to the port in order to allow safe disembarkation.

References

Ferries of Greece Ships built in Genoa 2000 ships Ships built by Fincantieri {{Ferry-stub