Thick black smoke is billowing over the port of Paxos after a fire completely engulfed a tourist vessel before spreading to a second boat docked nearby. Fortunately, all passengers had disembarked before the outbreak. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
The incident began around 1:00 PM on Thursday at the New Passenger Terminal in Gaios, Paxos.
According to local reports from kerkyrasimera.gr and corfutvnews, the blaze originated on a day-boat that operates tourist cruises, quickly spreading out of control due to unknown causes. Fueled by flammable materials onboard, the flames rapidly jumped to a neighboring vessel.
Reports indicate that the passengers—who had just completed a popular daily excursion from Parga to Paxos—had safely stepped off the vessel just moments before the fire broke out.
The Hellenic Coast Guard confirmed that the fire involved two commercial tourist vessels and that no passengers were onboard at the time of the incident. Fire service vehicles, an ambulance and a tugboat have been deployed at the port.
The Parga-Paxos route is one of the single most popular day-trip cruises in the entire Ionian Sea. During the summer season, it is a massive staple of the local tourism economy, drawing thousands of international and domestic visitors every week.
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