Name Festos Palace Port of registry Heraklio, Greece Yard number 6060 Builder Fincantieri | Owner Minoan Lines Route Piraeus–Heraklio Length 214 m | |
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Namesake Ancient palace of Phaistos | ||
Festos Palace is a Ro-Pax high speed ferry, built in 2001 at the Sestri Ponente shipyards by Fincantieri and owned by Minoan Lines. 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 16V46C diesel engines with a combined power of 67,517 kW, which give her a top speed of 31,6 knots.
Contents
It is named after the Minoan palace of Phaistos and its sister ship is HSF Knossos Palace. The cabins are equipped with en suite bathrooms, telephones, TV sets and are soundproof. It has an internet cafe, ATM machines and a pool on the top deck (open only during summer).
Route
Festos Palace serves the overnight route Piraeus - 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 operates during daytime, completing her voyage in 6 hours.
Accidents and incidents
On April 3, 2013 Festos Palace hit the Heraklion port dock after high winds and waves pushed the ship to the dock. The ship needed a tug boat in order to dock properly. No injuries were reported.
