IONAS (ΙΩΝΑΣ)
-Kerkyra Seaways (2017-2023)
current ADA 74 for Cyprus Turkish Shipping Ltd
Built in 1989 (age 35). Was registered in Piraeus. Current line: None in Greece (sold to Cyprus Turkish Shipping Ltd for service between Cyprus and Turkey)
The double-ended ferry IONAS was built in 1989 in the United Kingdom, as the SUPERFLEX HOTEL for the Danish company VR Shipping. She was deployed on the Copenhagen-Helsingborg line on the Øresund. She stayed there until 1991, when she was deployed on the Copenhagen-Landskrona line. In 1992 she was chartered to the Danish company Scarlett Line, and she continued to serve the Copenhagen-Landskrona line, while in 1993 she was renamed FREJA SCARLETT. After Scarlett Line went bankrupt in late 1993, she was laid-up in Copenhagen, and remained there until 1995, when she was sold to the Spanish company Flebasa Lines, being deployed on the Algeciras-Ceuta line on the Gibraltar Strait as the MIGUEL HERNÁNDEZ. In 1996 she was deployed on the Tarifa-Tangier Med line. She was then transferred to the parent company Isnasa in 1998, but she was laid-up in Algeciras in that same year together with her fleetmate and sister ship, namely the ANTONIO MACHADO. After a five-year-long lay-up, the two ships were purchased by the Italian company Enermar Transporti Isole Sarde. The MIGUEL HERNÁNDEZ was renamed BUDELLI and began service in 2004 on the Palau-La Maddalena line. Along with her sister ship which had been renamed RAZZOLI, she was sold in 2006 to the Italian company Bluvia, and she was deployed on the Villa San Giovanni-Messina line on the Messina Strait. She was renamed MONGIBELLO in 2008. In 2012 she and the RAZZOLI (which had been renamed REGGIO) were sold to the Greek company 2way Ferries, being renamed IONAS and DORIEUS, respectively. They were both converted in Perama. While the DORIEUS (today the CORFU SPIRIT of Kerkyra Lines) ended her conversion in 2012 and entered service for 2way Ferries, the conversion of the IONAS did not finish until 2014, whereupon she was deployed on the Igoumenitsa-Corfu line on the Ionian Sea. After only a month of service, she was chartered to Kerch Ferry State Shipping Company for service between Russia and Ukraine, being deployed on the Kavkaz-Port Krym line on the Kerch Strait. In 2015 she was chartered again, this time to the Estonian company Saaremaa Laevakompanii, and she was deployed on the Virtsu-Kuivastu line. She stayed there until 2017, when she returned to Greece. Her ownership was transferred from 2way Ferries to S&L Ferries, and she returned to the Ionian Sea, being deployed on the Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Paxoi line. Her company joined the Corfu Ferries joint venture in 2018, and was then rebranded as Kerkyra Seaways in 2019. In 2023 she was sold the Turkish company Cyprus Turkish Shipping Ltd, being renamed ADA 74 and beginning service on the Ammochostos-Mersin line, hence connecting the occupied part of Cyprus with mainland Turkey.
PHOTOS (2018, 2022):
The IONAS having just arrived in Igoumenitsa (8/2018).
The IONAS having just arrived in Igoumenitsa (8/2018).
The IONAS having just arrived in Igoumenitsa (8/2018).
The IONAS resting in Igoumenitsa (8/2018).
The IONAS resting in Igoumenitsa (8/2018).
The IONAS seen docked in Corfu during the evening (9/2022).
The IONAS seen docked in Corfu during the evening (9/2022).
The IONAS seen docked in Corfu during the evening (9/2022).
The IONAS seen resting in Corfu during the evening (9/2022).
The IONAS seen resting in Corfu during the evening (9/2022).
The IONAS seen resting in Corfu during the evening (9/2022).
The IONAS seen arriving in Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS seen arriving in Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS seen arriving in Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS heading towards her docking spot in Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS heading towards her docking spot in Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS heading towards her docking spot in Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS about to dock in the port of Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS about to dock in the port of Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS about to dock in the port of Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS seen docking in Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS having just docked in the port of Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS having just docked in the port of Corfu (9/2022).
The IONAS seen docked in Igoumenitsa (9/2022).
The IONAS seen docked in Igoumenitsa (9/2022).
The IONAS seen docked in Igoumenitsa (9/2022).
The IONAS spotted in the port of Igoumenitsa (9/2022).
The IONAS seen as she departs the port of Igoumenitsa. This turned out to be my final picture of the ship in Greece, as she was sold in early 2023 to Cyprus Turkish Shipping Ltd in order to operate between the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus and mainland Turkey as the ADA 74 (9/2022).