FLYING DOLPHIN XIX Tribute and Moments of Trip

Trip: 30 August 2022. From Piraeus to Aegina, with the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX of Hellenic Seaways.

The hydrofoil FLYING DOLPHIN XIX was built in 1983 in Georgia (then part of the Soviet Union), as the COLCHIS 1 for the Soviet company Black Sea Shipping Company-Noroflot. She was the lead ship of the prominent Kolkhida-class (which was an upgrade of the Kometa-class, which featured dozens of hydrofoils that went on to operate in Greece). She began service on the Odessa-Yalta line on the Black Sea. In 1986 she was sold to the Greek company Ceres Flying Dolphins, and she was renamed FLYING DOLPHIN XIX. With this acquisition, she became the first second-hand purchase in the history of the company, after having previously deployed newly-built hydrofoils during its first ten years of operations. The FLYING DOLPHIN XIX was deployed on the Sporades and on the Northeast Aegean Sea, as she was introduced on the Agios Konstantinos-Oreoi-Volos-Trikeri-Pefki-Platanias-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Skyros-Porto Karras-Marmaras-Nea Moudania line. In 1999 Ceres Flying Dolphins was transferred to Minoan Flying Dolphins, with the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX seeing her service limited to the Agios Konstantinos-Volos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos line. Her company was renamed Hellas Flying Dolphins in 2002, before being rebranded as Hellenic Seaways in 2005. In 2004 she moved from the Sporades to the Saronic Gulf, as she was deployed on the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri-Poros-Hydra-Ermioni-Spetses-Porto Cheli line. Her service there ended abruptly in 2012, as she ran aground in the small islet of Metopi, while sailing between Aegina and Agistri. She was refloated and towed to Perama, where she was declared a constructive total loss and she was laid-up, being left off the plans of Hellenic Seaways. She remained laid-up for the next seven years, until her fleetmate and sister ship, namely the FLYING DOLPHIN XVIII, was completely damaged by a fire while she was undergoing her refit in Perama in 2019 (after which she was scrapped on the spot later in that same year). As a result of this, and against all odds, Hellenic Seaways decided to reactivate and to repair the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, which underwent a significant renovation and was fully restored for service. She made her return to the Saronic Gulf in 2020, being reinserted on the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri-Poros-Hydra-Ermioni-Spetses-Porto Cheli line.

Having now reached four decades since she was built, the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX has remained a part of the ever-shrinking hydrofoil fleet of Hellenic Seaways, and all that while taking into account the fact that she did not operate for eight years after what was initially believed to have been a career-ending accident back in 2012. Since then, the ship has returned fully renovated, and she has provided a very reliable service on the Saronic Gulf. Out of the three active hydrofoils of Hellenic Seaways, she is currently the one that has the modern indoor areas and which has had the least amount of engine troubles, despite her being the oldest ship in the company. Even as Hellenic Seaways underwent a major fleet renewal in 2022 by deploying three newly-built aero high speed catamarans (namely the AERO 1 HIGHSPEED, the AERO 2 HIGHSPEED and the AERO 3 HIGHSPEED) with the view of permanently replacing the aging hydrofoils on the Saronic Gulf, the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX was the only ship of her type that remained in service even after these ships were introduced in the middle of last year's summer season. She completed the 2022 season with much success, and it remains to be seen if she will continue to be part of her company's long-term plans.

Between her introduction on the Saronic Gulf in 2004 and her accident in 2012, I never had the chance to travel with the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, as we would usually travel between Piraeus and Aegina with the conventional ferries serving the Saronic Gulf. Therefore, if you had told me up until 2019 that I would have the chance to travel onboard this hydrofoil, I would have surely dismissed this as an improbable scenario. However, following her reactivation in 2020, the opportunity of exploring her manifested itself once again. And this finally happened during the summer of 2022, which was her third season since her comeback to service. From 13 August 2022, after having headed to Aegina following the completion of my trip on the Dodecanese (which was done with the fleetmate of the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, namely the cruiseferry ARIADNE), I spent the rest of that month on the aforementioned island, although there were three days during which I briefly headed to Athens in order to see some friends that were visiting the city. One such occasion occurred on 30 August 2022, when I spent the morning in Athens in order to see a friend from my Master's degree who happened to be in town. I headed early in the morning of that day from Aegina to Piraeus with the double-ended ferry ACHAEOS of 2way Ferries, for which I have written a Tribute Post during a trip that I had done with her on 19 July 2016. My return to Aegina during the afternoon of that same day was with the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, which would bring me to the island in just 40 minutes. By traveling with her, she became the fourth hydrofoil of Hellenic Seaways on which I got to sail onboard, following the FLYING DOLPHIN XV (a Kometa-class hydrofoil which was sold in 2011 to the Greek-Albanian company Ionian Seaways, for whom she has since been operating as the SANTA on the Corfu-Sarandë line on the Ionian Sea), the FLYING DOLPHIN XXIX and the FLYING DOLPHIN XVII, the latter having her own Tribute Post for a trip that I had with her from Piraeus to Aegina on 19 July 2021. She is also the fifth hydrofoil on which I have traveled, if we also include the FLYING DOLPHIN ATHINA of Aegean Flying Dolphins, with which I have done several trips between Piraeus and Aegina. She also became the oldest hydrofoil on which I have traveled (being 39 years old at the time of my trip), as well as the oldest high speed craft on which I have traveled in Greece at the time. This was also my first trip with a hydrofoil of Hellenic Seaways since 1 September 2021 (thus almost exactly one year prior), which had been onboard the FLYING DOLPHIN XVII while heading from Piraeus to Aegina.

A view of the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX as she is resting in Piraeus just before her planned departure to Aegina. As my trip was planned for 15:00, and I had arrived in the port at 14:30, I had plenty of time to take a few pictures of the ships that happened to be there around that time, after which I would go on to embark onboard the veteran hydrofoil for the first time.

The FLYING DOLPHIN XIX seen once again, during her third consecutive season on the Saronic Gulf, following her reactivation in 2020.

I quickly headed to the E7 gate in order to take pictures of the ships that I happened to see at the E3 gate and the E4 gate. One of them was the Ro-Pax ferry OLYMPUS of Sea Speed Ferries. Built in 1976 in Japan, and having first started operations for her owners in 2019, she was spending the summer of 2022 under lay-up in Piraeus, after having failed to begin service on the Kasos-Karpathos lifeline for which she had been controversially awarded the subsidy contract by the Greek Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy instead of the PREVELIS of ANEK Lines, which had been serving the latter since 2009. Following a series of missed sailings owing to technical and financial issues, her contract was canceled and the PREVELIS was inserted back to her service. Since then, Sea Speed Ferries have appeared to have definitely ceased operations, with the ship due to be put up for auction in about 10 days.

Another view of the unlucky OLYMPUS, which has operated under five different companies since beginning operations in Greece in 1998, but with all of them having gone bankrupt while the ship was part of their respective fleets. There are many rumours about her future, with some suggesting that she might be saved once again from the scrapyard. Even so, she remains an old ship which had has several technical issues over the past three years, in addition to being a difficult ship to operate due to her being a single-rudder ferry.

In front of the OLYMPUS was another veteran Japanese-built ferry, namely the KRITI II of ANEK Lines. Built in 1979, she began service for her owners in 1997, after undergoing a year-long conversion in Perama. She was spending her first season on the Piraeus-Heraklion line since 2020, after she had remained laid-up in Perama in 2021.

Between the KRITI II and the OLYMPUS was another Japanese-built ferry, namely the ELYROS of ANEK Lines. She was seen here along with the laid-up OLYMPUS.

A view of the impressive ELYROS, which has been the flagship of ANEK Lines ever since she began service for them in 2008. She operates on the Piraeus-Chania line, having been there ever since the start of her career in Greece, with the sole exceptions being each summer from 2015 to 2019, when she would be operating under charter to Algérie Ferries. Since 2020, she has remained on her usual service in Crete.

A view of the KRITI II, which was spending her first season since being reactivated after one year of lay-up. She had previously operated on the Piraeus-Heraklion line from 2001 to 2011, and from 2015 to 2020.

In front of the KRITI II was another ship operating on the Piraeus-Heraklion line, namely the FESTOS PALACE of Minoan Lines. Built in 2002 in Italy, she was originally known as the EUROPA PALACE, and she operated on the Adriatic Sea before being chartered in 2012 to the Italian company Tirrenia Di Navigazione, together with her sister ship, namely the OLYMPIA PALACE. The two ships were remained AMSICORA and BONARIA, respectively. The former returned to Minoan Lines in 2018, being renamed MYKONOS PALACE and being deployed on the Piraeus-Chania line. In 2020, following the fleet reshuffle undertaken by Minoan Lines, she was renamed FESTOS PALACE and she therefore took the name and the service of the original ship previously known as such. That ship became the KYDON PALACE, and she was instead deployed on the Piraeus-Chania line. The new FESTOS PALACE was introduced on the Piraeus-Milos-Heraklion line, and she was joined there in late 2020 by the ex-OLYMPIA PALACE, which became the new KNOSSOS PALACE (whereupon she replaced the original ship of the same name, which joined the Italian company Grimaldi Lines as the CRUISE BONARIA).

Another view of the ELYROS, which was seen spending her third consecutive full season on the Piraeus-Chania line, ever since she stopped being sent under charter to Algérie Ferries.

Another view of the KRITI II, which continues to operate on the Piraeus-Heraklion line ever since she returned there after replacing her fleetmate and sister ship, namely the KRITI I. The latter was sent for lay-up in Perama, and it appears like she is not part of the company's imminent plans.

The FESTOS PALACE seen in Piraeus, during her fifth consecutive season since her return to Minoan Lines, and during her third straight summer on the Piraeus-Milos-Herkalion line.

The FESTOS PALACE was seen in the E3 gate while facing the cruiseferry DIAGORAS of Blue Star Ferries, which operates on the Northeast Aegean Sea.

Another ship that I got to see, this time at the E10 gate in Piraeus, was the high speed ferry TERA JET of Sea Jets. She was spending her first season on the Western Cyclades, having been deployed on the Piraeus-Serifos-Sifnos-Milos line. This was also her first year of operations since 2019, after she had remained laid-up during the two seasons that followed due to her high running costs.

At the E8 gate, next to the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, I got to see two high speed craft that were operating on the Saronic Gulf. These were the hydrofoil FLYING DOLPHIN VENUS I of Aegean Flying Dolphins, and the high speed catamaran SPEED CAT I of Alpha Lines.

A view of the SPEED CAT I, which was spending her second summer in Greece and under Alpha Lines. Built in 2002 in France, she became the first ship to join Alpha Lines, which was established in 2020. She began service on the Piraeus-Poros-Hydra-Spetses line on the Saronic Gulf.

A view of the FLYING DOLPHIN VENUS I, which was spending her first season on the Saronic Gulf since 2019. During the 2022 season, she operated on the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri line together with the FLYING DOLPHIN ATHINA. She was notably a former fleetmate of the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, back when both ships were operating for Ceres Flying Dolphins and then for Minoan Flying Dolphins and Hellas Flying Dolphins. Previously known as the FLYING DOLPHIN XIV, the FLYING DOLPHIN VENUS I was sold in 2005 (the same during which Hellas Flying Dolphins was rebranded as Hellenic Seaways) to Paxos Flying Dolphins, for whom she operated for three years on the Corfu-Paxoi line as the PAXOS FLYING DOLPHIN, before being acquired by Aegean Flying Dolphins in 2008.

A view of the TERA JET together with another high speed craft that was operating on the Saronic Gulf, namely the FLYINGCAT 5 of Hellenic Seaways.

The FLYINGCAT 5, which is a fleetmate of the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, seen resting in the port of Piraeus. Having been operating on the Saronic Gulf since 2020 (having also operated there in 2014 and in 2017), she was serving the Piraeus-Poros-Hydra-Ermioni-Spetses-Porto Cheli line.

The TERA JET seen once again, while she was resting in the port of Piraeus.

In the E7 gate in Piraeus, I got to see another high speed ferry owned by Hellenic Seaways which was operating on the Saronic Gulf, namely the high speed catamaran FLYINGCAT 4 of Hellenic Seaways. Just like the FLYINGCAT 5, she also operates on the Piraeus-Poros-Hydra-Ermioni-Spetses-Porto Cheli line.

The FLYINGCAT 4 seen as she is resting in Piraeus. Built in 1999 in the United Kingdom, she joined Minoan Flying Dolphins when the latter was established, and she remained with them even as they were renamed Hellas Flying Dolphins before being rebranded as Hellenic Seaways. She has spent most of her career on the Cyclades, while she also operated on the Sporades from 2001 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2017. Since 2019, she has been operating on the Saronic Gulf.

Another view of the FLYINGCAT 4 as she remains docked in Piraeus.

The DIAGORAS seen docked in the E3 gate in Piraeus. Having been deployed on the Northeast Aegean Sea since 2018, for the 2022 season she was operating on the Piraeus-Leros-Patmos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala lifeline. Therefore, she was also serving two islands of the Dodecanese. Most of her career is associated with the latter area, as she served its islands from 2001 to 2004 (initially under DANE Sea Lines), and then from 2006 (when she joined Blue Star Ferries) until her sale to Africa Morocco Link in 2016. After two seasons with the latter, she returned to Greece in 2018.

The TERA JET seen once again, while she is resting in Piraeus. She served the Western Cyclades under Sea Jets together with the SUPERRUNNER JET. The latter used to be her main competitor on the Cyclades from 2017 to 2019, back when she was still known as the SUPERRUNNER of Golden Star Ferries.

The FLYING DOLPHIN VENUS I seen not far from the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX in Piraeus. As stated previously, this was her first season on the Saronic Gulf in three years, with the last time having been in 2019, when she had been deployed on the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri-Methana-Poros line. She had remained laid-up in Perama in 2020, before being reactivated later in that same year in order to operate on the Volos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos line on the Sporades, where she also remained during the summer of 2021.

The SPEED CAT I seen once again. During the 2022 season, I got to travel with her twice, while I headed from Piraeus to Hydra on 24 September 2022 before making the return leg the following day. I had previously done my first trip with her while sailing from Poros to Piraeus on 9 September 2021.

After having seen several ships in Piraeus at the time my trip was due to start, I then went to see the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, in order to embark onboard her for the first time in my life.

A view of the indoor area of the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX right someone has entered the ship, which features several aircraft-style sears and a small luggage storage area.

A view of the front section of the indoor area of the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX. It is far brighter and more modern than that of the FLYING DOLPHIN XVII, with the aircraft-style seats being newer and featuring a nice cream colour.

A view of the indoor area towards the aft section of the ship, which features more modern aircraft-style seats, which were in a dark grey colour and looking newer and more comfortable. Overall there is a total of 130 such seats onboard the ship, as this is the maximum passenger capacity for hydrofoils of the Kolkhida-class.

At 15:00, the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX began to leave Piraeus in order to begin her trip to Aegina. From the window that I was sitting next to on the starboard side, I had the chance to take a good picture of the small passenger ship ELENA F of Elena F Shipping, which was undergoing her maneuvering procedure in the port after having arrived from Salamina.

While we began to head towards the exit of the port of Piraeus, I got to see another ship having just arrived in the port. Indeed, this was the BLUE STAR PATMOS of Blue Star Ferries, which had returned to Piraeus after having completed her trip from the Cyclades. She was seen passing by the NISSOS RODOS of Hellenic Seaways, which operates on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene on the Northeast Aegean Sea.

The BLUE STAR PATMOS now seen passing by her fleetmate, namely the DIAGORAS, in order to head towards her docking spot in the E7 gate in Piraeus. Built in 2012 in South Korea, she is the youngest ship of Blue Star Ferries. Since 2015, she has been mainly operating on the Piraeus-Syros-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini-Anafi line, while also serving additional islands from 2015 to 2017 and in 2020.

After just 40 minutes, we had arrived in Aegina at about 15:40. The trip was very quick and smooth, and I therefore disembarked without any issues. Here is a view of the ship as she is docked in the port of Aegina.

Shortly after the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX had docked in Aegina, I got to witness another ship leaving the island's port. Indeed, that was the conventional double-ended ferry POSIDON HELLAS of 2way Ferries, which used to be a fleetmate of the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, as she used to be owned by Minoan Flying Dolphins/Hellas Flying Dolphins while operating under the Saronikos Ferries division from 1999 to 2005, and she then operated for Hellenic Seaways from 2005 until her sale to her current owners in 2015.

The POSIDON HELLAS seen leaving Aegina, during her eighth summer under 2way Ferries. During the first two seasons of her career, namely from 1998 to 1999, she operated for Poseidon Consortium Shipping, which was operated by the Papaïoannidis family that currently owns 2way Ferries.

The POSIDON HELLAS seen having completed her maneuvering procedure in Aegina, in order to begin sailing back to Piraeus.

This therefore marked the end of my trip with the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, as I had once again returned to Aegina, where I went on to spend two days before leaving the island with my family in order to head back to Athens. Indeed, on 1 September 2022, we traveled with the same ship that took me to Aegina for the first time during that summer, namely the conventional ferry APOLLON HELLAS of 2way Ferries (also a former fleetmate of the FLYING DOLPHIN XIX under Minoan Flying Dolphins/Hellas Flying Dolphins and Hellenic Seaways). It was really nice to head to the island for one last time during the summer of 2022 with the veteran hydrofoil FLYING DOLPHIN XIX, which clearly looks fresh and modernised despite her advance age and her many years of lay-up between her accident in 2012 and her eventual reactivation. Being the lead ship of the famed Kolkhida-class, she has played a major role on the Saronic Gulf and previously on the Sporades, and it is nice to see that she still had more to offer for Hellenic Seaways. It now remains to be seen if she will remain with them in the long term, as the introduction of the aero high speed catamarans has implied a shift towards a complete renewal of the company's fleet on the Saronic Gulf. She did have the chance to continue operating in 2022 (unlike the other two hydrofoils which were sent for lay-up in Perama), but we now need to see if this will repeat itself this year. Considering her recent refurbishment, she should be able to remain active. If not for Hellenic Seaways, certainly another operator could look into her, such as Aegean Flying Dolphins which continues to rely on ships of her type despite their main competitors now having more modern ships. In either case, it would be nice to see her operating for a few more years, as she continues to provide enjoyable trips on the Saronic Gulf, including the one that I got the chance to have with her.

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