GIANNIS S (ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ Σ)
Spanopoulos Speed Lines
ex-HYDRA I (ΥΔΡΑ Ι) of Hydra Speed Lines (2009-2019)
Built in 1982 (age 43). Registered in Lomé. Current line: Corfu-Sarandë
Τhe high speed catamaran GIANNIS S was built in 1982 in Norway. She was initially launched as the ROSARIO, but she was completed as the VENTURE 83 for the Norwegian company Westamaran Hydrofoils. She was deployed on the Bergen-Stavanger line on the North Sea, but her career in Norway only lasted one year, as she was sold in 1983 to the newly-established Greek company Cretan Ferries, which was based in Rethymnon. She was renamed NEARCHOS and she was deployed on the Piraeus-Rethymnon line, thus becoming the first high speed craft in the history of the Greek coastal service to operate in Crete, while also becoming the first catamaran to ever operate in Greece. Despite holding these honours, her service on the Piraeus-Rethymnon line was not very successful, as she was not a ferry (with most passengers traveling to Crete by car), and she experienced a few engine troubles. As a result, in 1988, after Cretan Ferries acquired the conventional ferry ARKADI, the NEARCHOS was instead deployed on the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Paros line, where she stayed for every summer until 1999, except in 1995 and in 1996, when she operated on the Igoumenitsa-Corfu line on the Ionian Sea. In 1999, she was sold to Panou Shipping, which deployed her on the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri line on the Saronic Gulf, under the name KERAVNOS II. In 2007, her company ceased operations and she was laid-up in Perama. She remained there until 2009, when she was sold to Hydra Speed Lines. She was renamed HYDRA I and she was deployed on the Piraeus-Poros-Hydra-Spetses line, but her operations there were very brief as she suffered a major engine failure, which made her miss the rest of the 2009 season. The ship was then laid-up in Salamina from 2009 to 2012, and then in Floisbos from 2012 to 2018. She was moved back to Salamina in 2018. In 2019 she was renamed GIANNIS S in 2019, after having been sold to the Greek company Spanopoulos Speed Lines. Following four years of refit in Salamina, and 13 years of lay-up, she was reactivated in 2022 on the Rhodes-Fetihye line, under a collaboration with Sky Marine Ferries. After two seasons there, she was deployed on the Samos-Kuşadası line in 2024. In 2025 she returned to the Ionian Sea for the first time in 29 years, as she was deployed on the Corfu-Sarandë line.
PHOTOS (2017, 2022, 2023):
The HYDRA I seen laid-up in Floisbos (7/2017).
The HYDRA I seen laid-up in Floisbos (7/2017).
The HYDRA I seen laid-up in Floisbos (7/2017).
The HYDRA I seen in Floisbos during the evening (7/2017).
The HYDRA I seen in Floisbos during the evening (7/2017).
The HYDRA I in Floisbos, the port where she has been docked since 2012 (9/2017).
The HYDRA I seen in the port of Floisbos (9/2017).
The HYDRA I laid-up in the port of Floisbos (9/2017).
The HYDRA I laid-up in the port of Floisbos (9/2017).
The HYDRA I laid-up in the port of Floisbos (9/2017).
Passing by the laid-up HYDRA I in Floisbos (9/2017).
Passing by the laid-up HYDRA I in Floisbos (9/2017).
The HYDRA I, Greece's first-ever catamaran, now laid-up in Floisbos, awaiting her fate (9/2017).
The GIANNIS S seen docked in Perama, as she undergoes her winter refit following the completion of her first season under Spanopoulos Speed Lines, and her first active season since 2009 (9/2022).
The GIANNIS S seen in Perama, after having finished her summer season on the Rhodes-Fethiye line (9/2022).
The GIANNIS S docked in Perama (9/2022).
The GIANNIS S docked in Perama (9/2022).
The GIANNIS S docked in Perama (9/2022).
The GIANNIS S seen resting in Perama for the winter (11/2022).
The GIANNIS S seen resting in Perama for the winter (11/2022).
The GIANNIS S seen resting in Perama for the winter (11/2022).
The GIANNIS S seen in Perama (11/2022).
The GIANNIS S still seen undergoing her annual winter lay-up in Perama (1/2023).