IOSIF K (ΙΩΣΗΦ Κ)

-Creta Cargo Lines

Built in 1979 (age 45). Registered in Piraeus. Current lines: Piraeus-Mykonos-Kos-Rhodes and Piraeus-Chania

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The Ro-Ro carrier IOSIF K was built in 1979 in Norway, as the NORWEGIAN CHALLENGER for the Norwegian company Norient Line. She was deployed on a lengthy liner service connecting Northern Europe with with the Far East via the Middle East, namely on the Hamburg-Bremerhaven-Rotterdam-Antwerp-Jeddah-Singapore-Hong Kong-Keelung-Busan-Tokyo line. In 1981 she was chartered to the British company OT Line Africa and she operated on the Venice-Tripoli line on the Mediterranean Sea. In 1982 she was chartered to the Italian company Linea Messina and she was renamed JOLLY BRUNO. She remained in the connection of Italy with Libya, operating on the Genoa-Tripoli line. After 9 years with Linea Messina, she was sold in 1993 to the British company Merchant Ferries and she was renamed MERCHANT BRILLIANT. She was deployed on the Heysham-Warrenpoint line on the Irish Sea, while in 1995 she was inserted on the Heysham-Dublin line, where she stayed until 2004, when she was deployed on the Rotterdam-Purfleet line on the North Sea. In 2001 her Merchant Ferries merged with the British-Norwegian company Norse Irish Ferries, thus creating the new company Norse Merchant Ferries. The latter was however taken over by the Dutch-Danish company Norfolkline in 2005, with the MERCHANT BRILLIANT continuing to serve the Rotterdam-Purfleet line before heading back to the Heysham-Dublin line in 2006. In 2007 she was chartered to the Danish company Scandlines and she was deployed on the Rostock-Hanko line on the Baltic Sea. She returned to Norfolkline and was deployed on the Heysham-Belfast line in 2008, before she was sold later in that same year to the Ukrainian company Almar Shipping and she was renamed ZOYA. She was deployed on the Novorossiysk-Sevastopol-Odessa line on the Black Sea. In 2015 she was sold to the Lebanese company Bekaa Dream Shipping Offshore, and she was renamed BEKAA DREAM. She was assigned to transport Lebanese products to Saudi Arabia and Jordan, which she did by operating on the Beirut-Duba-Aqaba line. In 2019 she was chartered to the Spanish company Suardiaz Shipping Lines and she operated on the Barcelona-Marseille-Tunis line. Later in that same year she was purchased by the Greek company Creta Cargo Lines. She underwent a refit in Salamina and in Perama and she began service on the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ikaria-Samos-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kos-Rhodes line and on the Piraeus-Chania line in 2020 as the IOSIF F. In 2021 she was deployed on the Piraeus-Mykonos-Kos-Rhodes line and on the Piraeus-Chania line.

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PHOTOS (2022):