KRITI I (ΚΡΗΤΗ Ι)
-ANEK Lines
Built in 1979 (age 45). Registered in Chania. Current line: None (under refit in Drapetsona)
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, the NEW YUKARI, before both ships were acquired by ANEK Lines in 1996. They underwent major conversions in Perama, and 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 SUPERFAST I and SUPERFAST II of Superfast Ferries and the newly-built ARETOUSA of Minoan Lines. With the arrivals of the OLYMPIC CHAMPION and the HELLENIC SPIRIT, two newly-built cruiseferries, in 2000 and 2001 respectively, the KRITI I was transferred to the Ravenna-Catania line in 2000. After only one season on this line, 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 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 and was laid-up in Perama. She then went to 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. 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 (ex-LEFKA ORI) of Blue Star Ferries, which had been acquired from ANEK Lines at the beginning of that year. 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 for the first time in her career, as she was deployed on the Piraeus-Kalymnos-Kos-Rhodes line. In 2017 she was chartered to the Italian company Grandi Navi Veloci, and 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.
PHOTOS (2014, 2015, 2020, 2021):
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).