RIGEL I (ΡΙΓΚΕΛ Ι)

-Ventouris Ferries (2007-2021)

Built in 1973, scrapped in 2021 (age 48). Was registered in Panama and Limassol. 

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The veteran cruiseferry RIGEL I was built in 1973 in Finland for the Finnish company Silja Line, under the name BORE I. She entered service on the Stockholm-Mariehamn-Turku line on the Baltic Sea. She was renamed SKANDIA in 1980, and continued to operate for Silja Line until 1983, when she was sold to the Swedish giants Stena Line and was renamed STENA BALTICA. However, while undergoing her conversion, she was sold to the Soviet company Baltic Line, and was renamed ILICH. During her conversion for her new owners in Gothenburg, she notably had one of her two funnels removed. She began service for Baltic Line in 1984, being deployed on the Stockholm-St Petersburg line on the Baltic Sea. In 1991 she was deployed on the Stockholm-Riga-St Petersburg line, and stayed there until 1995, when she was deployed on the Nynäshamn-Riga-St Petersburg line. The following year, while undergoing a major refurbishment in Turku and having been renamed ANASTASIA V, debts owed to the shipyard prevented her from resuming service. She remained in Turku until 1997, when she was sold to the Vincentian company Windward Lines, in order to operate on the Caribbean Sea. She was renamed WINDWARD PRIDE, and was deployed on the Puerto La Cruz-Margarita-Port of Spain-Bridgetown-Kingstown-Castries-Santo Domingo line, but her stay on the Caribbean Sea was short, as she was subsequently sold to the Estonian company Estline in late 1997. She was renamed BALTIC KRISTINA and was deployed on the Stockholm-Tallinn line in 1998, hence returning to the Baltic Sea once again. In 2000, she was transferred to the Estonian giants Tallink, and was deployed on the Kapellskär-Paldiski line during the 2001 and the 2002 seasons. In 2002 she was sold to the Latvian company Riga Sea Line and was deployed on the Stockholm-Riga line. In 2005, following serious economic problems her company was facing, she was laid-up in Riga. In 2007 she was sold to the Turkish company Euro7, was renamed ATLAS 1, and sailed to Tuzla for a conversion. She was due to enter service on the Brindisi-Çeşme line, but the operations eventually did not materialise. She was instead chartered to the Moroccan company Comarit, was renamed BADIS, and was deployed on the Almería-Al Hoceïma line for the summer of 2007. After her charter was completed, she was laid-up in İstanbul, before she was bought by the Greek company Ventouris Ferries. She was renamed RIGEL, underwent a brief conversion in Igoumenitsa, and was deployed on the Bari-Durrës line on the Adriatic Sea later in that same year. In 2013 she was renamed RIGEL I. In 2017, the ship was deployed on the Zakynthos-Kefalonia-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Bari line during the summer, alongside her fleetmate, the BARI. In 2020 her service was restricted to the Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Bari line. In 2021, after having spent the summer under lay-up in Aegion, she was sold for scrap to India, where she arrived under the name ROGER.

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PHOTOS (2017):