KRITI I (ΚΡΗΤΗ Ι)
-ANEK Lines
Built in 1979 (age 46). Registered in Chania. Current line: None (laid-up in the Elefsina Bay)
The veteran ferry KRITI I was built in 1979 in Japan, as the NEW SUZURAN for the Japanese company Shin Nihonkai Ferry. She spent the beginning of her career on the Tsuruga-Otaru line along with her sister ship, namely the NEW YUKARI, before both ships were acquired by the Greek company ANEK Lines in 1996. They both underwent a major conversion in Perama, and they were respectively renamed KRITI I and KRITI II. They were deployed on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Ancona line on the Adriatic Sea in 1997, in order to compete with the newly-built cruiseferries SUPERFAST I and SUPERFAST II of Superfast Ferries and the newly-built cruiseferry ARETOUSA of Minoan Lines. With the arrivals of the OLYMPIC CHAMPION and the HELLENIC SPIRIT, two newly-built cruiseferries, in 2000 and in 2001, respectively, the KRITI I was introduced on a new service on the Ravenna-Catania line in 2000. After only one season on this service, ANEK Lines transferred her to the Piraeus-Heraklion line in 2001, with the KRITI II joining her the following year. She also made a few appearances on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Trieste line from 2002 to 2004, in order to replace the usual ferries on the service during their annual refits. With the establishment of the ANEK-Attica Group joint venture in 2011, the KRITI I was replaced by the OLYMPIC CHAMPION (today the SUPERFAST III of Superfast Ferries) and she was laid-up in Perama. She then went to operate on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Venice line along with the KRITI II in 2012, before being replaced by the chartered Italian Ro-Pax ferry FORZA. She was chartered in 2013 to the Italian company Go In Sardinia for the summer, being assigned on the Livorno-Olbia-Civitavecchia line on the Tyrrhenian Sea. In 2014 she returned to the Piraeus-Heraklion line, and in 2015 she was transferred to the Piraeus-Chania line, along with the BLUE GALAXY of Blue Star Ferries (previously the LEFKA ORI under ANEK Lines, she returned to the company in 2024 as the KISSAMOS). At the end of that summer she was surprisingly chartered to an unknown Russian company for service on the Black Sea, but she returned to Greece without operating at all. In 2016 she was deployed on the Dodecanese, as she was deployed on the Piraeus-Kalymnos-Kos-Rhodes line. In 2017 she was chartered to the Italian company Grandi Navi Veloci and she was inserted on the Civitavecchia-Termini Imerese line on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Her charter ended in 2019 and she returned to ANEK Lines, for whom she resumed service on the Piraeus-Heraklion line in late 2020. She was once again laid-up in Perama in 2022, and then in Drapetsona in 2023, before heading to the Elefsina Bay in 2024.
PHOTOS (2014, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023):
The KRITI I resting in Piraeus (7/2014).
The KRITI I up-close in Piraeus (6/2015).
The KRITI I up-close in Piraeus (6/2015).
The stern of the KRITI I in Piraeus (6/2015).
The KRITI I in Piraeus (7/2015).
The KRITI I in Piraeus (7/2015).
The KRITI I in Piraeus, before a departure to Chania (7/2015).
The KRITI I in Piraeus, before leaving for her charter in Russia. She returned to Greece immediately afterwards (7/2015).
The KRITI I in Piraeus, before leaving for her charter in Russia. She returned to Greece immediately afterwards (7/2015).
The KRITI I seen in Perama, after having returned under the care of ANEK Lines and just before returning to service under them (8/2020).
The KRITI I seen in Perama, after having returned under the care of ANEK Lines and just before returning to service under them (8/2020).
The KRITI I seen in Perama, after having returned under the care of ANEK Lines and just before returning to service under them (8/2020).
The KRITI I seen in Piraeus, in her first summer operating under ANEK Lines since the 2016 season (7/2021).
The KRITI I in Piraeus, serving the Piraeus-Heraklion line for the first time since the 2014 summer season (7/2021).
The KRITI I seen in Piraeus (7/2021).
The KRITI I seen in Piraeus (7/2021).
The KRITI I seen maneuvering in the port of Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I seen docking in the port of Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I seen in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I seen in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I seen in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I resting in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I resting in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I resting in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I seen in the port of Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I taking a rest in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I taking a rest in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I taking a rest in Piraeus (8/2021).
The KRITI I docked in Piraeus (9/2021).
The KRITI I docked in Piraeus during the evening (9/2021).
The KRITI I seen laid-up in Perama, after having spent the previous season on the Piraeus-Heraklion line, where she was replaced by the KRITI II (8/2022).
The KRITI I seen in Drapetsona, still awaiting her fate (4/2023).