AEOLOS KENTERIS II (ΑΙΟΛΟΣ ΚΕΝΤΕΡΗΣ ΙΙ)

-NEL Lines

Built in 2001 (age 23). Registered in Mytilene. Current line: None (laid-up in Salamina)

The high speed ferry AEOLOS KENTERIS II was ordered in 1999 by the Greek company NEL Lines, together with two other high speed ferries, namely the AEOLOS EXPRESS and the AEOLOS KENTERIS. She was built in 2001 in France as the AEOLOS EXPRESS II, and she was deployed on the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos line on the Cyclades, while also occasionally serving the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos line. Just like it was the case with all the high speed ferries of NEL Lines, her service was met with mixed reviews, as she encountered various technical problems and her company struggled to maintain her properly, while competitors fared much better. As a result of her unprofitability and her engine issues, she was laid-up in Lavrion in 2005, along with her fleetmate, the AEOLOS EXPRESS. She moved to Piraeus in 2006, where she remained under lay-up. After two years, the two ships were reactivated in 2007, and they were renamed AEOLOS KENTERIS II and AEOLOS KENTERIS I, respectively. The former was deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos line. In 2008 she collided with the RODANTHI of GA Ferries in Piraeus, but she was repaired and spent the first part of the summer on the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos line, before being subsequently chartered to the Egyptian company Namma Lines, for whom she was deployed on the Safaga-Jeddah line on the Red Sea. After the summer season ended, she returned to NEL Lines and was deployed on the inter-Cyclades lifeline that was being served by the PANAGIA TINOU, thus serving the Lavrion-Kea-Kythnos-Andros-Tinos-Syros-Paros-Naxos-Donousa-Amorgos-Koufonisi-Schoinousa-Irakleia-Folegandros-Sikinos-Ios-Thirassia-Santorini-Anafi lifeline. She remained in this service until the end of the 2011 season, whereupon she was replaced by the AQUA SPIRIT (today the NORTHERN SEA WOLF of the Canadian company BC Ferries). She was subsequently laid-up in Salamina due to her continuous technical issues, her unprofitable services combined with the financial difficulties of NEL Lines. The company eventually ceased operations in 2015, after which the ship was seized by the Piraeus Port Authority over unpaid debts. Her future remains uncertain.

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