Express Samina
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 France  Greece
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| Yard number: | F23 |
| In service: | 25 June 1966 |
| Out of service: | 26 September 2000 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 6613548 |
| Fate: | Hit the rocks off the coast of Paros island 26/9/00 |
| Notes: | Sister ship of MS Express Naias |
| General characteristics | |
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| Length: | 115.00 m (377 ft 4 in) |
| Beam: | 18.11 m (59 ft 5 in) |
| Draught: | 4.36 m (14 ft 4 in) |
| Decks: | 11 |
| Installed power: | 2 × Atlantique–Pielstick 16c (10,945 kW) |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
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MS Express Samina (Greek: Εξπρές Σαμίνα) was a French-built roll-on/roll-off (RORO) passenger ferry that collided with a reef off the coast of Paros island in the central Aegean Sea on 26 September 2000. The accident was caused by negligence by the crew, for which several members were found criminally liable, and resulted in 81 deaths and the loss of the ship.
She was built as MS Corse in 1966 at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St Nazaire, France for Compagnie Generale Transatlantique along with her sister ship MS Comte De Nice. In 1969 she was transferred to Compagnie Generale Transmediterraneenne. After six years service, the company changed its name again, to SNCM to which she was transferred. In 1982 she sailed from France for the last time as she was sold to a Greek company, Stability Maritime, to operate their Italy-Greece-Israel route under her new name MS Golden Vergina. In 1988 she was sold to the Agapitos Bros for service in the Aegean sea without name change under Agapitos Lines. In 1999 she was sold to Minoan Flying Dolphins, again for service in the Aegean, renamed Express Samina.
On the evening on Tuesday 26 September 2000, MS Express Samina left the port of Piraeus with 473 passengers and 61 crew members. At 22:12, 2 nmi off the port of Parikia, Paros, the ship hit the reef of Portes islets at 18 knots. The wind at the time was 8 on the Beaufort scale. The ship sank near there at 23:02, resulting in the deaths of 82 people from a total of 533 on board. The first responders to the distress call were fishing boats from the nearby port, followed by the port authorities and British ships, in the area due to a NATO exercise. The fact that some of the crew did not help the passengers evacuate the sinking ferry contributed to the death toll.
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Wikipedia