Dane Sea Lines was founded in Rhodes in 1979. The ferry company was publicly owned and in 1994 it was listed on the Stock Exchange in Athens. After serious financial difficulties in 2004, Dane Sea Lines were forced to sell their ships. In 2006, Blue Star Ferries announced that in an auction that took place in Rhodes, they had purchased Dane Sea Lines ferries for €15,400,000.

When Dane Sea Lines were in operation, they had four passenger ferries, the Leros, Ialissos, Rodos, and the Patmos and two freight ships. All of the ferries were well equipped with a range of cabins to suit all budgets. There was a choice of bars and restaurants, shops and a cinema.

The Leros could accommodate up 1244 passengers, 34 trucks and 50 cars. The Ialissos held 1243 passengers, 38 trucks and 40 cars. The Rodos could carry up to 1443 passengers, 80 trucks and 110 cars. The largest ferry was the Patmos, which could accommodate up to 1400 people, 80 trucks and 140 cars.

Dane Sea Lines offered ferry services between Rhodes and Piraeus to Kalymnos, Nissiros, Kos, Leros, Astipalea, Symi, Patmos, Tilos, Kastelorizo ,Lipsi Syros, Naxos, Paros, Mykonos Amorgos, Thessaloniki and Samos.

There were daily ferry crossings from Piraeus to Leros which took 10 hours; Piraeus to Naxos 6 hours, 30 minutes; Piraeus to Patmos 9 hours; Piraeus to Kalymnos 11 hours, 30 minutes; Piraeus to Kos 12 hours; Piraeus to Astipalea 9 hours; Piraeus to Paros 5 hours, 30 minutes; Piraeus to Rhodes 14 hours; Pireaus to Mykonos 6 hours; Piraeus to Siros 4 hours, 30 minutes and Piraeus to Amorgo 8 hours, 30 minutes.

From Rhodes, Dane Sea Lines offered ferry services to Thessaloniki and Samos. The journey time from Rhodes to Thessaloniki took 21 hours and from Rhodes to Samos, the journey time was seven hours.

Tags: Astipalea, Athens, Dane Sea Line, Kalymnos, Kastelorizo, Kos, Leros, Lipsi Syros, Mykonos Amorgos, Naxos, Nissiros, Paros, Patmos, Piraeus, Rhodes, Samos, Symi, Thessaloniki, Tilos