PRINCE (ΠΡΙΝΣ)
-A-Ships Management (2023-2024)
current AKDENİZ of İHH
Built in 1979 (age 46). Was registered in Panama. Current line: None in Greece, sold to İHH as a humanitarian relief vessel in Gaza
The cruiseferry PRINCE was built in 1979 in Ireland, as the CONNACHT for the Irish company B&I Line, which was the brandname of the British and Irish Steam Packet Company. She began service on the Pembroke Dock-Cork line on the Irish Sea, while in 1980 she moved to the Liverpool-Dublin line. In 1982 she was deployed on the Liverpool-Dublin -Holyhead line. In 1988 she moved to the Pembroke Dock-Rosslare line, while later in that same year she was sold to the French company Brittany Ferries, for whom she was renamed DUCHESSE ANNE. After a conversion in Germany, she began service in 1989 on the St Malo-Portsmouth line on the Channel. In 1993 she began serving the St Malo-Roscoff-Plymouth-Cork line, thus connecting France with both the United Kingdom and Ireland. In 1995 she collided with the breakwater in St Malo, but she was repaired immediately. In 1996 she was sold to the Croatian company Jadrolinija and she was renamed DUBROVNIK. She began service on the Ancona-Split-Stari Grad-Korčula-Dubrovnik-Bari line in 1997, thus linking Italy with Croatia via the Adriatic Sea. In 2001 her itinerary was modified and she operated on the Ancona-Split-Stari Grad-Korčula-Rijeka-Bari line, before reverting to the Ancona-Split-Stari Grad-Korčula-Dubrovnik-Bari line in 2004. In 2007 her service was limited to the Ancona-Stari Grad-Split line. In 2011 she moved to the Bari-Dubrovnik line. Beginning in 2017, the ship also operated on the Bari-Bar line once per week during the summer, thus connecting Italy with Montenegro. After 26 years with Jadrolinija, she was sold in 2023 to the Greek company A-Ships Management, and she was renamed PRINCE, hence becoming the third ship in the history of the company to bear that name (after the original PRINCE which operated for the company back when it was known as European Seaways from 2016 to 2017, followed by the second ship which operated from 2018 to 2021 until she was sold for scrap in 2022). She was deployed on the Brindisi-Vlöre line. After just one season with A-Ships Managment, she was sold in 2024 to the Turkish NGO İHH, for whom she was due to become part of a flotilla providing humanitarian aid to Gaza following the outbreak of the Gaza War. She was renamed AKDENİZ and she began her role based from Turkish ports.
PHOTOS (2024):
The PRINCE seen on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE seen on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE seen on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE spotted on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE spotted on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE spotted on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE seen idle on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE seen idle on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE seen idle on the Saronic Gulf, in the Piraeus anchorage, just before she was due to leave to Turkey after having been sold by A-Ships Management (4/2024).
The PRINCE seen in the Piraeus anchorage, in what proved to be my last picture of the ship in Greece, as she was subsequently sold to the Turkish NGO İHH in order to begin her new role as the AKDENİZ (4/2024).