A crew member was found dead yesterday afternoon onboard the cruise ship Aegean Goddess moored at the port of Heraklion, Crete. The crew member was identified as a 61-year-old Greek national who was working as a sailor aboard the vessel. Local media report that the sailor was found unconscious by his colleagues inside his cabin. An emergency medical team responded to the scene and confirmed the death. 

"Yesterday afternoon, the Port Authority of Heraklion was informed, by the naval agent of the JSC AEGEAN GODDESS, about the death of a 61-year-old local sailor, who was found unconscious,” said the Coast Guard in a statement.

The Aegean Goddess is a cruise ship built in 1994 for Holland America Line as ms Ryndam. After concluding her final cruise season with HAL, the vessel was transferred to P&O Australia in 2015, and underwent extensive dry dock refurbishment, emerging as the Pacific Aria. 

In 2019, P&O Australia announced the sale of the ship to Cruise & Maritime Voyages, scheduled to join the CMV fleet in May 2021 as Ida Pfeiffer. 

However, Cruise & Maritime Voyages collapsed in bankruptcy and the ship was purchased by the Greek ferry company Seajets. Today the ship lays at the port of Heraklion all rusty, waiting to see where the future might take her next.