An abandoned ferry was blown ashore in Greece, washing up on the same beach that suffered an oil spill from a nearby tanker wreck three months earlier.

The 6,300-gt Makedonia (built 1989), which had been laid-up for years at the Piraeus anchorage, broke loose on 16 December in moderate gales.

The ship is believed to have drifted for about a mile before startled residents on the island of Salamina saw it grounding just below their houses on the rocky Kynosoura beach the following morning.

Vessel snapshot

Name: Makedonia

Ship type: Ropax

Built: 1989

Gross tonnage: 6,300

Capacity: 243 passengers

Flag: Greece

Classification: Withdrawn from Rina

Beneficial owner: Saos Ferries

Sources: Equasis, Clarksons, TradeWinds

This is the second embarrassing incident in the area since September, when the 3,200-dwt tanker Agia Zoni II (built 1972) sank, leaking small quantities of fuel that polluted the same beaches, as well as swathes of Athens coastline.

After initial inaction, Greek authorities’ reaction was swift in both incidents.

The Makedonia was towed away on 18 December on the orders of its owner, Fotis Manousos-controlled Saos Ferries. The ship has caused no environmental damage and is now safely berthed at the Spanopoulos Group's Salamina facilities.

The clean-up from the Agia Zoni II oil spill was completed early in December. Apart from a few containers of waste heaped on the side of the road, the spill has left no visible trace on Kynosoura beach.

The story of the Fukuoka-built Makedonia is fraught with miscalculations and errors. Until 2006, the ship was the Japanese-controlled Amami. Saos then spent nearly $20m to acquire and convert it at the local Perama docks, with a view to employ the ship on state-subsidised routes in the northern Aegean Sea. However, the Greek government cancelled the funding. Saos says this decision forced it to immobilise the ship and stalled its conversion.

Gutted and with new but unpainted steelwork erected, the Makedonia lay for years off Piraeus alongside other Saos ships, which were gradually sold for scrap. In 2013, it was towed to Turkey for demolition together with the 5,719-gt Saos ferry Panagia Agiasou (built 1973). But both ships were eventually ordered back to Greece due to problems with export papers and European Union rules, insiders say.

The ships were towed back to Piraeus but the port authority refused them entry. The tug crew then left them anchored just outside port limits, where the Makedonia remained until last weekend when the wind blew it towards Salamina.

Saos currently operates a single ship. In 2006, the year it bought the Makedonia, Saos entered the Athens stock exchange by merging with a listed basketball-camp company founded by Greek sporting legend Nick Galis. However, its listing was cancelled in 2016.