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Post by Kinygos on Sept 14, 2011 6:59:18 GMT
This will have only a minor effect on people arriving and departing, but sometimes things get a bit out of hand.
The Nissos Halki has been immobilised by a paperwork mess. This means that there is only the Nikos Express running, plus the water taxi.
A situation, which could have been handled better on all sides, gave rise to raised voices and near violence on Sunday between the ferry operators and the port police.
In short be prepared for fewer, more crowded ferries until the paperwork is sorted and both ferries are running. There will, or should be, a strict issue of tickets and limitation of the number of passengers allowed on the boats to the statuary safe load.
Please be patient if it causes you problems.
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Post by helengardenlady on Sept 14, 2011 9:16:23 GMT
This is a problem effecting the whole of Greece at the moment- in Paxos for example both the hydrofoils between Corfu and Paxos have been stopped. I am rather worried now about our upcoming trip to Halki, as the tour operators will probably take all the tickets on the available boats and independent travellers may find themselves stranded! This has been happening on Paxos. Does anyone know if tickets can be pre-booked to try and avoid this? I was thinking of booking the sea taxi- I put a thread on the transfers section about this- if anyone wants to share on 5th October? Knowing what he situation is in Paxos at the moment, I really want to find a solution before I go! Thanks.
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Post by Kinygos on Sept 14, 2011 13:13:20 GMT
Remember The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy?
On the front cover the friendly message in red
DON'T PANIC!
You will get to Halki one way or the other.
As I said before, you may just have to be patient.
On that fateful Sunday a certain freelancer did move a certain HV contributor.
Say no more! |
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Post by muriman on Sept 14, 2011 19:08:52 GMT
I understand that the ferry problem has arisen because ferry operators all over Greece paid the Piraeus agent of a Russian company for the necessary registration, involving safety checks etc - but the agent was not authorised. So while the agent seems to have taken the money and run, ferries are left with no government registration. The Nissos Halki is affected, but the Nikos Express is not affected by the same regulations because it is smaller. Here's an extract from Shipping Herald which (although hardly a model of crisp journalism!) gives the flavour of the story:
"Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) will officially inform that having no authorization to carry out ships’ surveys and to issue the RS documents, RS HELLAS LTD, the former RS agent in the Republic of Greece, has issued false classification certificates using forms of documents similar to the RS ones. RS has never provided RS HELLAS LTD with the RS forms of documents, stamps and protection marks used for drawing up ship’s documents. The fact of deceit was reported to RS by Greek law enforcement authorities."
(With thanks for this information to a Halki-based source of information whose identity most people can probably guess!)
With taxi strikes and unregistered ferries, it seems to be getting more difficult for visitors to contribute to Greece's economy!
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Post by daisy on Sept 14, 2011 19:28:03 GMT
Returned today with no probs
Ferry obviously fuller than usual but still some spare seats
Would think by October even if still only one ferry up and running it will not be anywhere near full as season is really running down by then ;D
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Post by muriman on Sept 15, 2011 8:20:48 GMT
That's useful info, Daisy - it would be interesting to know: if only one ferry operated for the Wednesday transfer from Halki to KS, is it right to assume it left at the early time? ie normally when there are two, one I think usually leaves at about 0730 the other at about 0830-0900. The earlier time is recommended for say the Easyjet flight scheduled departure 1230, the later one for most charters, although even the later one should be OK for Easyjet.
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Post by carol on Sept 15, 2011 13:08:52 GMT
Hi Muriman, the ferry left yesterday just before 8.30 arriving at KS 9.40, Daisy was in plenty of time for her Easyjet flight at 12.30  |
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Post by helengardenlady on Sept 22, 2011 9:32:54 GMT
Thanks for your responses so far! I just wondered how the transfers went yesterday, if anyone was there? On the return leg from Halki is the sea taxi still running a sheduled service at 12.50 per person? If so, is it possible to book this in advance do you know? Thanks!
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Post by carol on Sept 22, 2011 10:08:46 GMT
Yes Jane and Tony and Fatcat left Halki yesterday  hopefully once they have returned to normal life one of them will reply although at this time of year it is highly unlikely that the ferry would have been full. No idea sorry about the water taxi as we would only use it as a last resort if there were no ferries at all. |
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Post by fatcat on Sept 22, 2011 10:10:46 GMT
Transfers yesterday went without a hitch, quite full but there was room.
I think space may only be an issue when competing/fighting for a space with the day trippers.
As we were 'fighting' to get off at KS, they were 'fighting' to get on.
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Post by janeandtony on Sept 23, 2011 8:14:08 GMT
We returned on Wednesday and as Fatcat said there were no problems with the ferry. It left at 8.25 and we were at the airport in plenty of time for the Easyjet flight.  |
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hopefully once they have returned to normal life one of them will reply although at this time of year it is highly unlikely that the ferry would have been full. No idea sorry about the water taxi as we would only use it as a last resort if there were no ferries at all.
