Diagoras (Διαγόρας, Diagóras ) is a ferry of the Greek company Blue Star Ferries. Built between 1989 and 1990 at the Naikai Zōsen shipyard in Setoda for the Japanese company Ōsaka Kōchi Tokkyu Ferry, it was originally named New Tosa (ニューとさ, Nyū Tosa ). Commissioned in March 1990 on the routes between Osaka, Kochi, and the island of Shikoku, it was resold in April 2000 to the Greek company DANE Sea Line. Transformed and renamed Diagoras, it began a new career in the Aegean Sea operating between Piraeus and the island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese archipelago. Laid up in 2004 due to the bankruptcy of DANE Sea Line, it was acquired in 2006 by Blue Star Ferries, which put it back into service under its colors, still sailing to the Dodecanese. Transferred to the fleet of Africa Morocco Link in 2016, it sailed briefly between Morocco and Spain before returning to the Blue Star Ferries fleet. It currently serves the North Aegean region.
History
Origins and construction
New Tosa was ordered in the late 1980s by the Japanese company Ōsaka Kōchi Tokkyu Ferry to replace the Ferry Naniwa on the routes connecting Ōsaka and the island of Shikoku. The vessel was designed as a sister ship to the ferry New Katsura, which entered service in 1981. However, it has some minor differences from its predecessor, such as its slightly larger tonnage.