AGIOS GEORGIOS (ΑΓΙΟΣ ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ) -Creta Cargo Lines ex-OLYMPUS (ΟΛΥΜΠΟΥΣ) for Sea Speed Ferries (2018-2023) Built in 1976 (age 50 ). Registered in Piraeus. Current line: Piraeus-Chania The veteran Ro-Pax ferry AGIOS GEORGIOS was built in 1976 in Japan, as the OKUDOGO 3 for the Japanese company Ehime-Hanshin Ferry. She was introduced on the Kobe-Imabari line, where she went on to operate for 22 years as a cruiseferry. She was sold in 1998 to the Greek company Med Link Lines. She was converted into a Ro-Pax ferry in Perama, and she was renamed MARIA G. She was inserted on the Patras-Brindisi line on the Adriatic Sea. In 1999 she operated on the Brindisi-Patras-Çeşme line, while in 2000 she was deployed on the Patras-Kefalonia-Igoumenitsa-Brindisi line. Following the closure of Med Link Lines in 2004, the MARIA G was sold to the newly-established Greek company Endeavor Lines. She was renamed ELLI T, and, before entering service for her new owners, she was chartered to her former competitors, namely the Italian-Greek company Maritime Way, thus continuing her operations on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Brindisi line. In 2006, after Maritime Way also ceased operations, she returned under the management of Endeavor Lines. She was registered in Piraeus (after having been previously registered in Valletta). She underwent a small conversion in Turkey, and she entered service again on the Patras-Kefalonia-Igoumenitsa-Brindisi line. In 2008 she was moved to the Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Brindisi line, where she also remained in 2009. In 2010 she operated on the Patras-Kefalonia-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Brindisi line. In 2011, following the sale of her former fleetmate, namely the EROTOKRITOS T, she was once again deployed on the Patras-Kefalonia-Igoumenitsa-Brindisi line, after having also been reflagged to Cyprus and registered in Limassol. Ahead of the 2012 season, which was eventually the last for her company which later shut down operations, she was sold to the newly-established Greek company Cretan Lines, which was based in Retyhmnon. After a delayed refit, she operated on the Aegean Sea for the first time in her career, as she was deployed on the Piraeus-Rethymnon line, thus becoming in the process the first ship to operate on that service since 2008. However, after just two months of operations, she suffered a major engine failure, which kept her out of service in Drapetsona. Cretan Lines were unable to afford her repairs, and, as a result they left their service abandoned and ceased their operations. The ELLIT T was then moved to Salamina in 2013, where she remained laid-up for five years. In 2019 she was sold to the newly-established Greek company Sea Speed Ferries. She was repaired in Salamina and then in Drapetsona, and she was renamed OLYMPUS. She was deployed on the Piraeus-Milos-Santorini-Rethymnon line. On her very first day of service, however, she grounded off in Aspronisi while heading towards Santorini, but she managed to dock in the latter island. She was then towed to Syros, where she was repaired, and she resumed service in late 2019. Following her return, she was often criticised by passengers, due to various engine failures, along with many delayed and canceled services. In 2021 she was inserted on the Piraeus-Sifnos-Milos-Thirassia-Santorini-Anafi line on the Cyclades. In 2022 she was supposed to take over the Kasos-Karpathos lifeline and operate on the Piraeus-Milos-Santorini-Anafi-Heraklion-Siteia-Kasos-Karpathos-Chalki-Rhodes line, but she was not ready in time, and as a result her company was stripped of the license to perform service. Because of this, she was laid-up in Piraeus. Sea Speed Ferries eventually ceased operations and looked to sell the ship. She was ultimately bought at auction by Creta Cargo Lines in 2023. She was renamed AGIOS GEORGIOS, and following a refit in Salamina, she began freight services on the Piraeus-Santorini-Heraklion line. In 2025 she was deployed on the Piraeus-Heraklion line, on the Piraeus-Mykonos-Kos-Rhodes line and on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala line. PHOTOS (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024): OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in the port of Piraeus (8/2020). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS resting in Piraeus (8/2020). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in the port of Piraeus (8/2020). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS resting in Piraeus (8/2020). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen arriving in Milos. Picture taken by my friend Antoine Iacconi, to whom I am very grateful (6/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen arriving in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen arriving in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen arriving in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen as she has just arrived in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen as she has just arrived in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen as she has just arrived in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS heading towards her docking spot in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS heading towards her docking spot in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS heading towards her docking spot in Milos (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen resting in the port of Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen resting in the port of Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen resting in the port of Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS docked in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS docked in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS docked in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS spotted in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS spotted in Piraeus (7/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in the port of Piraeus (8/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in the port of Piraeus (8/2021). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, after having failed to begin service on the Kasos-Karpathos lifeline for which she had won the subsidy contract, which was later rescinded (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, after having failed to begin service on the Kasos-Karpathos lifeline for which she had won the subsidy contract, which was later rescinded (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, after having failed to begin service on the Kasos-Karpathos lifeline for which she had won the subsidy contract, which was later rescinded (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus, with her company having no plans to operate her after losing the subsidy contract for the Kasos-Karpathos lifeline, following a tumultuous period during which she failed to perform any scheduled trips (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus, with her company having no plans to operate her after losing the subsidy contract for the Kasos-Karpathos lifeline, following a tumultuous period during which she failed to perform any scheduled trips (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus, with her company having no plans to operate her after losing the subsidy contract for the Kasos-Karpathos lifeline, following a tumultuous period during which she failed to perform any scheduled trips (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, with her future uncertain as her company failed to reactivate her (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, with her future uncertain as her company failed to reactivate her (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, with her future uncertain as her company failed to reactivate her (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus, awaiting her fate (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus, awaiting her fate (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus, awaiting her fate (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen docked in Piraeus (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen docked in Piraeus (8/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus (9/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus during the late afternoon (9/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus (9/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen laid-up in Piraeus, in the E4 gate (9/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS remaining laid-up in the port of Piraeus, after Sea Speed Ferries ceased operations (10/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS remaining laid-up in the port of Piraeus, after Sea Speed Ferries ceased operations (10/2022). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS still seen laid-up in Piraeus (1/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS still seen laid-up in Piraeus (1/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS still seen laid-up in Piraeus (1/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, while awaiting her fate (1/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, while awaiting her fate (1/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Piraeus, while awaiting her fate (1/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen as she remains laid-up in the port of Piraeus, with Sea Speed Ferries having fully ceased operations (1/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen as she remains laid-up in the port of Piraeus, with Sea Speed Ferries having fully ceased operations (1/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS remaining laid-up in Piraeus (2/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS remaining laid-up in Piraeus (2/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen continuing her lay-up in Piraeus (3/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen continuing her lay-up in Piraeus (3/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen continuing her lay-up in Piraeus (3/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen having gone to Salamina, shortly after it was announced that she had been sold by Sea Speed Ferries to Creta Cargo Lines (4/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen having gone to Salamina, shortly after it was announced that she had been sold by Sea Speed Ferries to Creta Cargo Lines (4/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen having gone to Salamina, shortly after it was announced that she had been sold by Sea Speed Ferries to Creta Cargo Lines (4/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen docked in Salamina, while beginning preparations in order to resume service under her new owners, namely Creta Cargo Lines (4/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen docked in Salamina, while beginning preparations in order to resume service under her new owners, namely Creta Cargo Lines (4/2023). OLYMPUS The OLYMPUS seen in Salamina, in what proved to be my final picture of the ship under that name and under Sea Speed Ferries, as she subsequently resumed service as the AGIOS GEORGIOS for Creta Cargo Lines (4/2023). AGIOS GEORGIOS My first picture of the ship as the AGIOS GEORGIOS and under Creta Cargo Lines, as she is seen heading back to Piraeus (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen arriving in Piraeus, during her second year under Creta Cargo Lines (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen arriving in Piraeus, during her second year under Creta Cargo Lines (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen arriving in Piraeus, during her second year under Creta Cargo Lines (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen as she is heading towards her docking spot in Piraeus, in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal of the port (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen as she is heading towards her docking spot in Piraeus, in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal of the port (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen as she is heading towards her docking spot in Piraeus, in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal of the port (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen proceeding towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen proceeding towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen proceeding towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (4/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen as she is heading towards her docking spot in Piraeus, in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal of the port (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen as she is heading towards her docking spot in Piraeus, in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal of the port (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen as she is heading towards her docking spot in Piraeus, in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal of the port (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen proceeding towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen proceeding towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen proceeding towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen making her way towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen making her way towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen making her way towards her docking spot in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (5/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen having departed Piraeus and heading towards Santorini and Heraklion (6/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen having departed Piraeus and heading towards Santorini and Heraklion (6/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen after having departed Piraeus (6/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen after having departed Piraeus (6/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (8/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (8/2024). AGIOS GEORGIOS The AGIOS GEORGIOS seen in the Ro-Ro carrier terminal in Piraeus (8/2024).

AQUA BLUE (ΑΚΟΥΑ ΜΠΛΟΥ) -Sea Jets Ferries Built in 1975 (age 51). Registered in Piraeus. Current line: None (under drydock in Chalkida) The veteran ferry AQUA BLUE was built in 1975 in Japan, as the GREEN ARCH or the Japanese company Hiroshima Green Ferry. She began her career on the Osaka-Hiroshima line. In 1982 she was sold to Kurushima Kosan and she was renamed OKUDOGO 8. She was then chartered to Diamond Ferry and she was deployed on the Kobe-Matsuyama-Ōita line line. She stayed there until 1990, when she was sold to the Greek company ANEK Lines. She was renamed KYDON and she was converted in Perama, entering service in 1991 on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Trieste line on the Adriatic Sea. In 1994 she was deployed on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Bari-Ancona line. She was further converted in 1995, once again in Perama, whereupon her aft section was upgraded, while her indoor areas were refurbished and the accommodation superstructure was further extended to her front section. She was renamed TALOS and she resumed service on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Ancona line. In 1997 she was deployed on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Ancona-Trieste line. She was sold in 1999 to LANE Lines (which was rebranded as LANE Sea Lines in 2006), and she was renamed IERAPETRA L. She moved to the Aegean Sea, serving the Piraeus-Milos-Santorini-Agios Nikolaos-Siteia-Kasos-Karpathos-Chalki-Rhodes-Castellorizon lifeline. In 2003 she began operating on the Piraeus-Milos-Santorini-Heraklion-Agios Nikolaos-Siteia-Kasos-Karpathos-Chalki-Rhodes-Castellorizon lifeline. She grounded off in Rhodes in 2005, but she was salvaged and subsequently repaired. In 2006 she was chartered for two days by the Greek football club AEK Athens in order to transport its fans from Rafina to Heraklion, where the team was due to play the final of the Greek Cup for that year. As the team ended-up losing, the ship was severely vandalised by angry supporters, and she was seriously damaged. She was nevertheless repaired in Perama and she returned to her usual service. In 2008 she operated on the Piraeus-Milos-Santorini-Heraklion-Agios Nikolaos-Siteia-Kasos-Karpathos-Chalki-Rhodes-Castellorizon lifeline and on the Thessaloniki-Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos line on the Northeast Aegean Sea, before she was transferred back to ANEK Lines in 2009. She was deployed on the Piraeus-Milos-Santorini-Anafi-Heraklion-Siteia-Kasos-Karpathos-Chalki-Rhodes line (together with the PREVELIS) and on the Piraeus-Patmos-Leipsoi-Leros-Kalymnos-Kos-Symi-Rhodes line. She was laid-up in Salamina in 2011, but she returned to service in 2012 on the Piraeus-Syros-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line. Despite her success there, she was again laid-up in Salamina in 2013, missing the entire season and not being a part of the plans of ANEK Lines. She however returned to service once again in 2014, being deployed on the Bari-Durrës line on the Adriatic Sea. After the season was completed, and as she was heading towards Piraeus for a refit, a fire emerged in one of her funnels, severely damaging her. She was towed to Drapetsona, where she remained laid-up, with many rumours suggesting she was sold for scrap. She was towed to Perama in 2016, amid reports of a sale to Sea Jets. This was confirmed the following year, as she underwent extensive repairs and she was again converted and renovated in Perama and in Drapetsona. After going through the names of KIARA and AQUA AZZURRO, she was eventually renamed AQUA BLUE, and she began service in 2018 under the Sea Jets Ferries division. She was deployed on the Thessaloniki-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Andros-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Santorini-Heraklion line, being the first ship to operate on that service after almost ten years. In 2019 she was deployed on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Ikaria-Samos line. In 2020 she was introduced on the Lavrion-Chios-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala line on the Northeast Aegean Sea . PHOTOS (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024): AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Piraeus, a day before beginning her service from Thessaloniki to Heraklion via the Sporades and the Cyclades (6/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Piraeus, a day before beginning her service from Thessaloniki to Heraklion via the Sporades and the Cyclades (6/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE in Piraeus, just before beginning service with Sea Jets Ferries (6/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE in Piraeus, just before beginning service with Sea Jets Ferries (6/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE arriving in the port of Paros (7/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE arriving in the port of Paros (7/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE arriving in the port of Paros (7/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE departing Paros (7/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE departing Paros (7/2018). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Piraeus, shortly before she began her summer service in Rafina (7/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Piraeus, shortly before she began her summer service in Rafina (7/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Piraeus, shortly before she began her summer service in Rafina (7/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE undergoing the final preparations prior to her entry to service in Rafina. During that summer, her hull was painted in navy blue, in contrast to the lighter blue she had during her first summer under Sea Jets (7/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Piraeus, shortly before she started her service in Rafina (7/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Piraeus, shortly before she started her service in Rafina (7/2019). AQUA BLUE The stern of the AQUA BLUE in the port of Rafina, shortly before her departure (8/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen departing the port of Rafina (8/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen departing the port of Rafina (8/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE leaving the port of Rafina and heading towards Andros (8/2019). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion, during her first season on the Lavrion-Chios-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala line. Picture taken by my mother, to whom I am truly grateful (8/2020). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion, during her first season on the Lavrion-Chios-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala line. Picture taken by my mother, to whom I am truly grateful (8/2020). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE docked in Lavrion (9/2021). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE docked in Lavrion (9/2021). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion (9/2021). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion (9/2021). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion (9/2022). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion (9/2022). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion (9/2022). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE resting in the port of Lavrion (9/2022). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE resting in the port of Lavrion (9/2022). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE resting in the port of Lavrion (9/2022). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in the port of Lavrion (9/2022). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion (12/2022). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE docked in the port of Lavrion (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE docked in the port of Lavrion (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE docked in the port of Lavrion (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen resting in Lavrion (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen resting in Lavrion (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in the port of Lavrion during the evening (9/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in the port of Lavrion during the evening (9/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in the port of Lavrion during the evening (9/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen in Lavrion with an impressive sunset in the background (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen docked in the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen docked in the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen as she is approaching the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen as she is approaching the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen as she is approaching the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE about to enter the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen entering the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen entering the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen entering the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE heading towards her docking spot in Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE heading towards her docking spot in Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen undergoing her maneuvering procedure in the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen undergoing her maneuvering procedure in the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen undergoing her maneuvering procedure in the port of Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE undergoing her maneuvering procedure in order to dock in Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE undergoing her maneuvering procedure in order to dock in Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE undergoing her maneuvering procedure in order to dock in Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE having just docked in Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE having just docked in Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE having just docked in Kavala (4/2023). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen departing the port of Lavrion (6/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen departing the port of Lavrion (6/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen departing the port of Lavrion (6/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen leaving the port of Lavrion (6/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen leaving the port of Lavrion (6/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen leaving the port of Lavrion (6/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen exiting the port of Lavrion (7/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen exiting the port of Lavrion (7/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen having exited the port of Lavrion (7/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen having exited the port of Lavrion (7/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen having exited the port of Lavrion (7/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen having left the port of Lavrion (7/2024). AQUA BLUE The AQUA BLUE seen having left the port of Lavrion in order to begin her trip on her usual lifeline on the Northeast Aegean Sea (7/2024).

AGIOS PANTELEIMON (ΑΓΙΟΣ ΠΑΝΤΕΛΕΗΜΩΝ) -Aneth Ferries Built in 1999 (age 27). Registered in Piraeus. Current line: Kavala-Thassos The landing craft AGIOS PANTELEIMON was built in 1999 in Greece, as the IOANNIS APOSTOLIS II for the Greek company Nirides NE, which was based in Salamina. She replaced the company's oldest landing craft, namely the IOANNIS APOSTOLIS, which was retired in 1999 and then sold in 2000 to the Sierra Leonean company Great Scarcies Ferry Company. The IOANNIS APOSTOLIS II was deployed on the Perama-Salamina line, where she remained until 2007, when she was replaced by a newly-built double-ended ferry, namely the NAVARCHOS APOSTOLIS II (which was sold in 2017 to the Mexican company Ultramar). She was subsequently sold to Agioreitikes Grammes, which is based in the Agion Oros area. She was renamed AGIOS PANTELEIMON and she was deployed on the Ouranoupolis-Dafini-Agion Oros line, thus serving the monasteries of the Agion Oros in the monastic community of Mount Athos. She also became her company's new flagship, a title which she retained until she was sold in 2013 to S&L Ferries, which was based in Corfu. She was therefore deployed on the Igoumenitsa-Corfu line on the Ionian Sea. In 2015 she was sold to ANETH Ferries (which is based in Thassos), being traded for the THASSOS VI which joined S&L Ferries (now known as Kerkyra Seaways) as the AGIOS SPIRIDON. The AGIOS PANTELEIMON entered service for her new owners on the Kavala-Thassos line, where she remains today. PHOTOS (2023): AGIOS PANTELEIMON The AGIOS PANTELEIMON seen docked in the port of Kavala (4/2023). AGIOS PANTELEIMON The AGIOS PANTELEIMON seen docked in the port of Kavala (4/2023). AGIOS PANTELEIMON The AGIOS PANTELEIMON seen docked in the port of Kavala (4/2023).

The MYTILENE seen docked in the port of Piraeus during the summer of 2013, which proved to be her penultimate active season in the Greek coastal service, as she would eventually remain laid-up for 7 years following an engine failure and her company's demise in 2015. Three days ago, yet another legendary veteran ferry of the Greek coastal service saw her long and illustrious career come to an end. Indeed, the iconic MYTILENE of NEL Lines arrived in the Turkish coastal city of Aliağa in order to be scrapped. This comes after she had left the anchorage in Elefsina in which she had remained languishing since 2016, waiting for a miracle to happen which would see her return to service. However, even the more optimistic observers unavoidably had to accept that a ship which had failed to perform a single trip since 2015 after experiencing a major failure in Samos, and whose company had no hopes for financial salvation following years of turmoil, could eventually be reactivated under a volatile Greek ferry market. Ultimately, on 24 May 2022, the MYTILENE, having been renamed LENE and sailing under the Togolese flag, left Greece for the last time, sailing under tow to Aliağa just a few days after her longtime fleetmate, the THEOFILOS, had done so. Both ships had ceased to operate just a few months before NEL Lines ceased operations altogether, and they were unable to escape the fate that awaits most ships that spend several years under lay-up. The MYTILENE thus completed a career that lasted almost five decades, as she headed for scrap 49 years after she was built, with 32 of them spent in Greece, and out of which two were spent for her conversion following her acquisition by NEL Lines in 1990, and the final seven were under lay-up, first in Samos and then in Elefsina. However, the 23 years during which she operated were enough to establish her as one of the best ferries to have ever operated in Greece, and she is widely regarded as the best ship that ever operated for the once glorious NEL Lines, as well as one of the best ships to have operated on the Northeast Aegean Sea (which is where she spent her entire career under NEL Lines). More specifically, her career is associated with her hugely successful spell on her company's flagship service, namely the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line (with several extensions to Limnos and Thessaloniki), where she operated uninterruptedly for 20 years. Known as 'The Queen of the Northeast Aegean Sea', the ship always stood out for her excellent service, her reliable operations and great speed (especially when she started her career in Greece during the 1990s), and she continued to remain in a very good condition even as she became older and NEL Lines began its decline during the late 2000s. Even as the company began to experience its financial problems, the ship continued to be highly regarded by passengers, and she had a successful stint on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line in her final years of operations before a major engine failure in early 2015 saw her withdrawn, and, ultimately, laid-up until a few days ago. Had she never had that engine failure, or had it occurred under an owner who had the funds to repair her, perhaps she could have still continued her operations, at least for a few more years. The MYTILENE initially operated in Japan (which is also the country where she was built), starting her career in 1973 as the VEGA of the the Japanese company Higashi Nihon Ferry. Together with her sister ship, the VIRGO (which was built in 1974 and then went on to become the legendary RODANTHI of the now-defunct company GA Ferries), she operated on the Sendai-Tomakomai line, hence linking the island of Honshu with that of Hokkaido through the North Pacific Ocean and the Tsugaru Strait. She performed her service there with great success, and remained there for 16 years, after she was replaced by the ferry VARUNA (which is now the BLUE HORIZON of Blue Star Ferries ). She was subsequently bought in 1990 by NEL Lines, which was seeking to improve its services on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line and to replace one of its oldest ships, namely the great HOMERUS. She therefore became one of the many former Japanese ferries that went on to have a second career in Greece, while also being the first one to be bought by NEL Lines. Her conversion in order to adapt to the standards of the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line would prove to be lengthy and challenging, and she ultimately entered service two years later after being remodeled into a modern cruiseferry in Perama. Her introduction was a major success, and she became the new flagship of NEL Lines. She formed a spectacular tandem with the iconic SAPPHO, which is the first ship that was ever bought by NEL Lines, back in 1973. Operating successfully on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line (along with extensions to Limnos and Thessaloniki), the MYTILENE was a major factor behind the success of NEL Lines during the 1990s, and she was a reference point for all passengers traveling on the Northeast Aegean Sea. She was joined by the larger THEOFILOS in 1995, and the two ships further enhanced the great services of NEL Lines for many years. However, despite their success, several poor decisions taken by the company, including the failed services of their newly-built high speed ferries, the poor maintenance undertaken on some of its ships, failed acquisitions and sales of various vessels, as well as disappointing results from their expansion plans on the Cyclades, saw them lose their momentum from the mid 2000s onwards. Furthermore, the increasing competition from Hellenic Seaways and later ANEK Lines on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line stagnated the company's development and made them vulnerable on their own flagship service. Despite a desperate attempt to enhance their services across the Aegean Sea and also on the Adriatic Sea in 2010 and in 2011 (by buying and chartering different ships of all kinds), the financial issues, fueled by the Greek financial crisis and poor management decisions, as well as increasing competition from the aforementioned companies and Blue Star Ferries, eventually damaged the company. Despite the MYTILENE being successfully deployed on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line in 2013, soon all the ships of the company began to experience technical troubles and had to be withdrawn one by one. Those assigned on subsidised lifelines were eventually removed by the Greek Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy from late 2014 onwards, and, without sufficient revenue, the last ships operating were arrested by their unpaid crews. The MYTILENE eventually ended her services in 2015 after suffering an engine failure in Samos. She remained there for an entire year, with her crew unpaid and abandoned by its employers, and their struggle was well-documented across the Greek media. She was finally towed in 2016 to Elefsina, where she remained until a few days ago, when she headed for demolition, thus following the same fate as her sister ship, which had gone to the same scrapyard ten years prior, back in 2012. Despite her tumultuous and undeserving end and her long lay-up, the MYTILENE remained a beloved ferry of the Greek coastal service, and she was a favourite of the passengers traveling to Chios and Lesbos. She played a pivotal role in ensuring the regular connection of these two large islands of the Northeast Aegean Sea with Piraeus, and this was largely thanks to her impressive speed and her excellent amenities onboard. These included her large amount of passenger cabins, her impeccable indoor lounge areas and onboard restaurants, and she also featured some nice exterior deck areas, with the most notable ones being the font-side balconies located above her bow. She was also the first ship of the Northeast Aegean Sea to feature escalators, a disco bar and passenger cabins located above the garage decks. Even after losing her status as the flagship of NEL Lines following the arrival of the THEOFILOS in 1995, she remained the favourite ship of the company, and she actually went on to have a more consistent and distinguished career than the latter. Indeed, while the THEOFILOS saw the quality of her services declining from the mid 2000s due to poor maintenance and one major accident in 2008, the MYTILENE remained consistent and well-maintained. Furthermore, she continued to operate far batter than the three high speed ferries that were introduced by NEL Lines from 2000 to 2001, namely the AEOLOS KENTERIS, the AEOLOS EXPRESS and the AEOLOS EXPRESS II (which were respectively renamed AEOLOS KENTERIS I and AEOLOS KENTERIS II in 2007). Furthermore, during the calamitous years of the company in the early 2010s, she was one of the few ships that continued to operate efficiently for the most part, despite her being one of the oldest ships of NEL Lines. Only her engine failure in Samos stopped her from operating, even though I believe that she would have nonetheless been arrested by her crew later on, as it happened with her remaining active fleetmates. This is yet another Ship Farewell Tribute post dedicated to a ship covered in this website , whose entire history will be explained and analysed in depth. She is notably another ship operated by NEL Lines for which I am writing such post, following that of the EUROPEAN EXPRESS in 2019 and that of the IONIAN SKY in 2020 . Another thing that I must mention is that this post only focuses on the MYTILENE, and not on the THEOFILOS which headed for demolition a few weeks ago. Indeed, I had taken a picture of that ship back when she was still operating in 2012, but I never published it as it is one of the many pictures that I lost following my computer crash in 2014. That was not the case for the MYTILENE, as I had luckily posted two pictures that I had taken of her upon seeing her in Piraeus in the summer of 2013 and in the summer of 2014 on Marine Traffic. These are my only two pictures of the legendary ferry, and I am happy that I managed to keep them. I do remember the ship during my childhood, seeing her in Piraeus under her original white-painted hull livery and later on when it was changed to dark blue. Unfortunately, as I have never been to the Northeast Aegean Sea, I did not have the chance to travel with her, therefore my only interactions with her consisted of seeing her docked in the E2 gate in Piraeus, and then ocasionally seeing her languished in Elefsina when I would be driving in the coastal road passing by the town (although I never had the chance to take a picture of her during that time). Nevertheless, I am happy to have memories of the ship, whose legacy will live on forever, and especially in the two islands that she served so loyally for more than two decades. The MYTILENE was built in Japan in 1973, having been one of two sister ships ordered by the Japanese company Highashi Nihon Ferry (which stands for 'Eastern Japan Ferry' in Japanese) in 1972 as part of their plans to improve the ferry connection of the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. The two ships were built in the Naikai Zosen Setoda Shipbuilding Yard in Setoda in the Hiroshima Prefecture, as the VEGA and the VIRGO, respectively. Higashi Nihon Ferry was a company established in 1965, and was dedicated to the connection of the aforementioned islands via the Tsugaru Strait, initially through the Ōma-Hakodate line, followed by the Aomori-Hakodate line, the Aomori-Muroran line and the Minmaya-Fukushima Town line in the 1960s. The successful consolidation of all these services on the Tsugaru Strait quickly made the company the largest ferry operator in Japan at the time. With the success of these services, the company quickly expanded to other ports in the area, and launched the Ōma-Muroran line, the Noeji-Hakodate line and the Ōma-Toi line in 1971. These seven services were collectively referred to as the 'Rainbow Line', which was a reference to the seven rainbow colours and the livery of the company's ships, which featured red, yellow and orange stripes similar to the design of a rainbow across their hulls. In addition to its fame in Japan, the company also became known to Greek ferry enthusiasts, as many ships operated by them were subsequently acquired by Greek ferry companies in the 1990s and in the 2000s. Besides the VEGA which later became the MYTILENE of NEL Lines and the VIRGO which became the RODANTHI of GA Ferries, other ferries included the VENUS (built in 1975) which became the iconic KEFALONIA of Strintzis Lines/Blue Star Ferries/Strintzis Ferries and is currently owned by Levante Ferries ; the first VARUNA (built in 1975 and acquired by Higashi Nihon Ferry in 1982) which became the legendary LATO of ANEK Lines, operating for them from 1989 to 2016; the sister ships VISVA and VENA (built in 1987), which joined Zante Ferries in 2007 and became the ADAMANTIOS KORAIS and the ODYSSEAS ELYTIS , respectively (with the former still operating for the company while the latter never entered service for them and remained laid-up in Zakynthos for five years before being sold to the Indonesian company PT Munic Line in 2013); the second VARUNA (also built in 1987) which became the SUPERFERRY HELLAS of Strintzis Lines and which has been known as the BLUE HORIZON of Blue Star Ferries since 2000; the sister ships HERMES (built in 1990) and HERCULES (built in 1992), which joined ANEK Lines in 1998 and in 1999 as the SOPHOCLES V and the LEFKA ORI, respectively, and later became known as the KYDON (from 2015 to 2017) and the BLUE GALAXY of Blue Star Ferries since 2015, respectively; and the Ro-Ro carrier LIBERTY BELL (built in 1994) which was bought in 2007 by Saos Ferries, for whom she eventually began service in 2018 as the SAONISOS . In addition, Higashi Nihon Ferry also operated a sister company named Higashi Nihonkai Ferry, which notably owned the NEW HIYAMA, which has been operating as the KERKYRA EXPRESS of Kerkyra Lines since 2015. As the aforementioned 'Rainbow Line' cemented the status of the company as one of the best in Japan, the company sought to further improve the connection of Hokkaido with the main island of Honshu, and thus planned to introduce new service on the Sendai-Tomakomai line, after seeing success and the potential of the port of Tomakomai, which is the largest city of the Iburi Subprefecture, which would be linked with Sendai, which is the largest city of the Tohōku region and of the Miyagi Prefecture. At the time the company ordered the VEGA and the VIRGO, newly-built ferries had just started to operate on the longer Nagoya-Sendai-Tomokomai line. These included two sister ships of the company Taiheiyō Enkai Ferry, namely the ARKAS and the ALBIREO (built in 1972 and 1973, respectively), which later became the famous cruiseferries IONIAN GALAXY and IONIAN ISLAND of Strintzis Lines, respectively. To that end, Highashi Nihon Ferry joined the area with the completion of the construction of the VEGA in December 1973, followed by that of the VIRGO in April 1974. The two ships were named after the Vega star (part of the Lyra constellation) and the the Virgo constellation, respectively, marking the start of the company's trend of naming their ships after stars and constellations (a similar pattern used by the Greek company Ventouris Ferries, amongst others). They were both registered in Tomakomai and they flew the Japanese flag. They began service on the Sendai-Tomakomai line under the Shin Higashi Nihon Ferry division, and their service was known as the 'Star Line', as opposed to the 'Rainbow Line' covering the shorter services on the Tsugaru Strait. A view of the VEGA shortly after she began her career under Shin Highashi Nihon Ferry in 1973. She notably carried the 'Star Line' livery, which consisted of a red and a yellow line forming a 'V' shape across her accommodation superstructure (in reference to the first letter of her name), with a black star painted in the middle. Picture found from a brochure of Higashi Nihon Ferry and published on www.arxipelagos.gr . The introduction of the VEGA and of the VIRGO was very successful. Both vessels provided excellent amenities onboard, and they were praised for their speed, which enabled them to perform the service in just 17 hours, which was considered revolutionary at the time. Moreover, they featured several passenger cabins and spacious indoor lounge areas, and had large garages that could feature as many as 75 lorries. The VEGA had a length overall of 136.70 metres, a beam of 22.41 metres and a draft of 5.56 metres. She was equipped with 2 Nippon Kokan-Pielstick 16PC2–5V–400 main engines with 14,121 kW of power, which enabled her to reach a conventional speed of 21.50 knots. During her spell in Japan, she could carry 847 passengers in 283 cabins, and 260 cars. Overall, her technical characteristics, which were exactly the same as those of her sister ship, made her a valuable ship for a service which continued to experience a rise in passenger demand. To that end, the competitors of Higashi Nihon Ferry, namely Taiheiyō Enkai Ferry, added two more newly-built ferries to supplement the services of the ARKAS and of the ALBIREO on the Nagoya-Sendai-Tomakomai line. Indeed, they deployed the ISHIKARI and the DAISETSU in 1974 and in 1975, respectively. The former would later become the famous EROTOKRITOS of Minoan Lines and Maritime Way and then the EROTOKRITOS T of Endeavor Lines, while the latter would go on to join Higashi Nihon Ferry in 1982 as the VARUNA on the Ōarai-Muroran line before being sold in 1987 to ANEK Lines, for whom she became the LATO. Despite operating against four ships, the ferries of Higashi Nihon Ferry continued to operate for the rest of the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s with great success. By 1977, the Shin Higashi Nihon Ferry division was discontinued and the two ships sailed under the core operations of Higashi Nihon Ferry. Another advertisement brochure depicting the various sections and decks of the VEGA, including pictures of her indoor areas and of her bridge, galley, foremast, life-rafts and bow thrusters. Picture published on www.nautilia.gr . The VEGA seen on the Tsugaru Strait in 1976, at the start of her long career. Picture taken by Ken Murayama and published on www.faktaomfartyg.se . Another aerial view of the VEGA in an advertisement brochure of Higashi Nihon Ferry, as she is seen sailing along the Tsugaru Strait. Picture published on www.arxipelagos.gr . A view of the sister ship of the VEGA, namely the VIRGO, which also went on to have a great career in Greece as the RODANTHI of GA Ferries. She was built in 1974 in Japan, and, together with the VEGA, she operated for Higashi Nihon Ferry under the Shin Higashi Nihon Ferry division on the Sendai-Tomakomai line. The division ceased to exist in 1977, when the two ships operated under the standard services of Higashi Nihon Ferry. The VIRGO underwent a conversion in 1984, during which her aft section was upgraded with more indoor areas and outdoor decks, while her garage was refitted in order to accommodate more vehicles, and her aft-section starboard side ramp was removed. She was laid-up in 1988 and she was sold to the Greek company GA Ferries in 1989. She was converted in Perama for two years and she was introduced as the modern cruiseferry RODANTHI on the Piraeus-Paros-Santorini-Heraklion-Karpathos-Rhodes line in 1991. Her entry to service on the Aegean Sea was a massive success, and she was praised for being one of the most luxurious and comfortable ferries at the time. In 1993 she moved to the Adriatic Sea, being deployed on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Ancona line. Despite her potential, she was unable to hold her own against competitors in the region, and she left the service following the 1994 season. She spent the first part of the summer of 1995 under charter to the Tunisian company Tunisia Ferries (also known as Compagnie Tunisienne de Navgiation) on the Genoa-Marseille-Tunis line, before returning to the Aegean Sea for GA Ferries and being deployed on the Piraeus-Astypalaia-Patmos-Leros-Kalymnos-Kos-Nisyros-Tilos-Symi-Rhodes line on the Dodecanese. In 1996 she served the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Santorini line with much success, while in 1997 she was inserted on the Piraeus-Syros-Paros-Naxos-Astypalaia-Patmos-Leros-Kalymnos-Kos-Nisyros-Tilos-Symi-Rhodes line. She would remain on this service for the next decade, and she helped establish her company as one of the major operators on the Dodecanese until the arrival of Blue Star Ferries in 2004. In 2005 the ship served the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Patmos-Leros-Kalymnos-Kos-Nisyros-Tilos-Symi-Rhodes line. In 2008 she collided with the AEOLOS KENTERIS II of NEL Lines (the future owners of the VEGA) in Piraeus, but she was repaired and she resumed service on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line for the summer season. In 2009 she operated on the Piraeus-Syros-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Sikinos-Folegandros-Santorini-Anafi line, and she was one of the last ships of the company that was still operating when GA Ferries ceased operations after the 2009 season. She remained laid-up in Piraeus for two years, after which she moved to Elefsina in 2011, before being sold for scrap to Turkey in 2012. Picture published on www.nautilia.gr . As the 1980s progressed, the VEGA and the VIRGO continued to provide very good service and to contribute to healthy economic results for the company. Nevertheless, the demand of passenger and vehicle service on the Sendai-Tomakomai line continued to grow, and soon the two ferries did not have the required capacity to satisfy the increasing traffic numbers. To that end, the VIRGO and the VEGA underwent a refit in 1984, during which their passenger capacity more than doubled, with the addition of several new passenger areas along their aft section. The ships continued to operate on the Sendai-Tomakomai line along with the ferries of Taiheiyō Enkai Ferry, which had been renamed Taiheiyō Ferry in 1982. The VEGA seen in Sendai during the late 1980s, now carrying the regular livery of Higashi Nihon Ferry (the three yellow, orange and red stripes forming an uptick shape along the ship's upgraded accommodation superstructure, with the company's dolphin logo located underneath her funnels). Picture found on the 'Efoplistis' magazine and published on www.shipfriends.gr . By 1988, the services provided by the two sister ships proved to be insufficient in the midst of soaring passenger demand. As a result, the need to deploy larger cruiseferries was a necessity for both companies serving the ports of Sendai and Tomakomai. Taiheiyō Ferry had already planned to upgrade its operations on the Nagoya-Sendai-Tomakomai line by 1986, having ordered two larger sister ships with massive garages and more passenger cabins. The first ship was the KISO, which was built in 1987. She was introduced on the Nagoya-Sendai-Tomakomai line and she replaced the ARKAS, which was sold to Strintzis Lines, being renamed IONIAN GALAXY. The KISO would also go on to have a career in Greece, as she is the current NISSOS RODOS of Hellenic Seaways , which acquired her in 2005. The second ship, namely the KITAKAMI, eventually entered service in 1989. She replaced the ALBIREO, which was also sold to Strintzis Lines, for whom she became the legendary IONIAN ISLAND. Having seen the introduction of the KISO and while awaiting the arrival of the KITAKAMI, Higashi Nihon Ferry decided to bring a brand new large vessel of their own fleet on the Sendai-Tomakomai line. Indeed, in 1989, the second VARUNA (built in 1987 and today the BLUE HORIZON of Blue Star Ferries), which had spent her first two seasons on the Ōarai-Muroran, headed to the Sendai-Tomakomai line. Her previous service was taken over by her newly-built sister ship, namely the VICTORY (later the VICTORY under the Italian company Grimaldi Lines and then the CARIBBEAN FANTASY of American Cruise Ferries-the predecessors of Ferries Del Caribe-until she suffered a major fire in 2016 which led to her eventual demolition in 2017), whose construction was completed in 1989. As the VARUNA was larger and faster than the VIRGO and the VEGA, both ships were withdrawn from service in 1989. The VIRGO was sold to GA Ferries and she became the RODANTHI, while the VEGA had to wait for a year until finding a new buyer. Ultimately, she would go on to follow her sister ship in Greece, as it was announced in 1990 that she had been bought by NEL Lines. Higashi Nihon Ferry would continue to operate until 2008, after which its ships were acquired by Dōnan Jidōsha Ferry, with the two companies then proceeding to form the newly-established company Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry in 2009. NEL Lines, the company for which the VEGA would go on to spend the remainder of her operational career was established in 1972 in Mytilene, the largest city of the island of Lesbos and the capital of the region of the North Aegean. Its name is the acronym of 'Naftiliaki Etaireia Lesbou', which stands for 'Maritime Company of Lesbos' in English. It was formed by the local communities of the islands of Chios and Lesbos, in order to ensure a daily and reliable ferry connection with Piraeus and the rest of Greece. This was after the successful establishment of ANEK Lines, which was a company that regrouped various shareholders based in Chania who were aiming to have a safe and regular connection of Crete with Piraeus through the Piraeus-Chania line, from 1967 onwards. With the formation of the Heraklion-based company Minoan Lines in 1972 as well, the residents of Chios and Lesbos sought to acquire their own vessel in order to have her serve the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. After securing the required funds, they proceeded to buying their first ship, namely the ferry SPERO of the British company Ellerman's Wilson Line. The ship was converted in Perama, being renamed SAPPHO, and she entered service during the summer of 1973 on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. Her introduction was an instant success, and she quickly became the most popular ship of the Northeast Aegean Sea, performing much more effectively than the ships that were previously operating there, namely those of Kavounides Lines and Efthymiadis Lines. Thanks to strong lobbying by the main shareholders of the company, the ship was embraced by the residents of Chios and Lesbos and eventually NEL Lines consolidated a near-monopoly on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line and remained largely unopposed there for the next 30 years. Thanks to the successful services of the SAPPHO, NEL Lines quickly sought to expand its fleet and areas of operations, just as ANEK Lines and Minoan Lines had done so. To that end, in 1975, the company purchased the ferry NILI of the Israeli company Weston Shipping Company. She was renamed ARION and she was inserted on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Thessaloniki line, and alternatively (after returning to Piraeus from the Northeast Aegean Sea) on the Piraeus-Patmos-Leros-Kalymnos-Kos-Rhodes-Limassol-Haifa line. This new service enabled the connection of the Northeast Aegean Sea with the Dodecanese, Cyprus and Israel via Piraeus and the Southern Aegean Sea. Dubbed an all-luxurious cruise on the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the services of the ARION were also deemed a major success. NEL Lines had now managed to secure the connection of the two largest islands of the Northeast Aegean Sea with not only the rest of Greece, but also establish an upgraded connection of Greece with two other countries through its ferry. Building on from this success, the company further enhanced its services in 1977 by bringing in the train ferry TRELLEBORG of the ferry division of the then-Swedish-state-owned railway company Statens Järnvägar. The ship was converted into a cruiseferry and she was renamed HOMERUS. She was also deployed on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala-Thessaloniki line along with the SAPPHO and the ARION. She became the fastest ferry to serve the area at the time, and she was also the first one to link Mytilene with Piraeus in just 10 hours. The company continued to grow impressively, even as it faced its first serious threat in 1979, when entrepreneurs from Chios decided to form their own company, namely NE Chiou, which deployed the ferry NISSOS CHIOS (previously the KAPELLA of the Finnish company Viking Line) on the Rafina-Chios line. While there were concerns that this would affect NEL Lines and its services to Chios, the company prevailed, even as the NISSOS CHIOS moved to the Piraeus-Chios-Psara line in 1983. NEL Lines was then affected by a tragic accident, when on 20 December 1981, the ARION was bombarded in a terrorist attack in Haifa, which resulted in the ship being severely damaged by a fire and being declared a constructive total loss. She was never repaired and was scrapped in Spain in 1984. Despite these setbacks, the company carried on with the addition of two new ships. These were the ALCAEOS (previously the MARELLA, also of Viking Line), which entered service in 1981 as a third ship on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line, and the ODYSSEAS ELYTIS (previously the MEDITERRANEAN SUN of Karagiorgis Lines), which was bought in 1982 and was deployed on the Piraeus-Rhodes-Limassol line until 1985, when she was sold to a subsidiary of the Danish company DFDS called SeaEscape. The former played a vital role in supplementing the services of the HOMERUS and of the SAPPHO, while the latter did not operate as successfully as her predecessor, the ARION. Nonetheless, the company kept performing very well. Later on, in 1984, the ALCAEOS moved to the Dodecanese and operated on the Piraeus-Ikaria-Samos-Patmos-Leros-Kalymnos-Kos-Rhodes line, where she competed very effectively against the ships of DANE Sea Line. The company then further expanded its fleet and operations on the Northeast Aegean Sea in 1989, when the Ro-Pax ferry GOLFO PARADISO of the Italian company Compagnia Sarda Di Navigazione Maritima (later known as Lloyd Sardegna) was acquired. She was renamed AGIOS RAFAEL and was also deployed on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala line and being primarily dedicated to freight services. As the 1990s began, NEL Lines had become an established company on the Aegean Sea with four very reliable ferries. They once again encountered a notable threat from 1990 to 1991, when Nomicos Lines deployed the conventional ferry HELLAS EXPRESS on the Rafina-Chios-Mytilene-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala line. Despite the latter being a faster ferry, she was unable to break the dominance of NEL Lines on the Northeast Aegean Sea, and she was therefore withdrawn from the area in late 1991 (she would then go on to serve as the AGIOS SPYRIDON under Kerkyra Lines). As such, NEL Lines remained a major force in the Greek coastal service. However, during that same period, several major Greek ferry companies had started to invest into larger, more modern, more comfortable and faster cruiseferries, especially on the Cyclades, Crete and the Dodecanese. Companies such as Minoan Lines, ANEK Lines, GA Ferries, Strintzis Lines, Agapitos Lines and Arkadia Lines introduced several impressive new ships that redefined the traveling experience on the Aegean Sea. In order not to stay behind this trend (even though none of these companies served Chios and Mytilene), NEL Lines also decided to buy a new large ferry that would upgrade passenger service on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. Moreover, the HOMERUS would have to be retired in 1993, as she would be reaching 35 years of service since the year in which was built, and the Greek Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy had imposed a mandatory retirement for vessels reaching that age. To that end, the company sought to find a worthy successor, and this went on to be the VEGA. Having seen the successful introduction of the RODANTHI under GA Ferries (who actually considered buying the VEGA in order to reunite her with her sister ship, but this ultimately never occurred), NEL Lines concluded that she was the ideal ship to invest in. She was bought for $9.40 million and was renamed MYTILENE, after the eponymous city in Lesbos and where her company was headquartered. Unlike the other ships of the company (with the exception of the HOMERUS), she was not registered in Mytilene, but in Chios, so as to satisfy the company directors that were based from that island. The MYTILENE arrived in Piraeus in November 1990, and then headed to Perama for her anticipated conversion and refit in order to be upgraded to the standards of the Aegean Sea. The MYTILENE seen after having just arrived in Piraeus for the first time, in November 1990. When she arrived in Greece, she was still carrying the livery of Higashi Nihon Ferry and her overall appearance was exactly the same as that of her career in Japan. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . Another view of the MYTILENE in the port of Piraeus in November 1990, shortly after her first arrival in Greece. She is docked in the E12 gate, next to the cruise terminal that is the closest to the current Terminal A 'Miaoulis'. She still features the livery of Higashi Nihon Ferry, and it is interesting to note that, underneath her name (written in Greek), the word "Hellas" (meaning 'Greece') is written instead of her eventual port of registry, namely Chios. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . The conversion of the MYTILENE lasted many months, as NEL Lines implemented many changes to the ship's structure and overall appearance, so that they would ensure that she would be the ideal vessel for the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. She was based in the Perama Ship Repair Zone, and her conversion was under the management and the supervision of Dimitrios Petrogonas, while the interior design was based on the works of the Italian ship designer Arminio Lozzi, who was known for having created much of the interior designs of the cruise ships of the once-glorious Greek cruise line Epirotiki Cruises (later known as Royal Olympic Cruises). With the aim of adding more passenger amenities, the ship saw her upper garage deck being remodeled in order to add new passenger cabins. In addition, her aft section was further upgraded, with the new indoor areas being added across an extended accommodation superstructure that was right on top of the former upper garage deck. The ship went on to acquire new indoor lounge areas, two new restaurants (one self-service restaurant and one à-la-carte restaurant), a disco bar, three bar areas, as well as a hospital room and a brand new reception hall. During her conversion, her bridge was severely destroyed by a fire, and this therefore led to the shipyard rebuilding it from scratch. This ultimately did not result in significant delays to the conversion altogether, as the work being done on the ship's indoor areas remained significant. Furthermore, the ship's outdoor areas also changed considerably, with several sun deck areas being added above the ship's stern and across most of her aft section. Her forward section was also upgraded, with the notable addition of balconies right above her bow. These made the ship more appealing aesthetically, and therefore the MYTILENE looked completely different to the ship that used to be the VEGA, and she was in fact now looking completely different to the RODANTHI, her sister ship. Furthermore, the ship was equipped with escalators located next to the passenger entrance (a feature that was extremely rare at the time in the Greek coastal service) Overall, the conversion was undertaken for a total cost of $8.80 million, and she saw her passenger capacity increasing to 1,735, along with the addition of 197 cabins together with 565 new beds. Her vehicle capacity was reduced, however, as the sacrificed upper garage deck meant that she could now carry just 265 cars, or 50 cars along with 60 lorries. NEL Lines also decided to keep the ship's starboard-side ramp located in the front section, thinking it would ease the loading and unloading of vehicles in all three main ports where she would be docking. The MYTILENE seen in Perama in 1991, while she undergoes her conversion in order to enter service on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. Her stern has been fully remodeled with the addition of several sun deck areas. Picture taken by Georgios Choriatellis and published on www.facebook.com . In July 1992, after almost two years of conversion in Perama, the MYTILENE was ready for service in Greece. Under the command of Cpt Ioannis Tsesmelis, she was deployed on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line on the Northeast Aegean Sea, thus succeeding the HOMERUS on the flagship service of NEL Lines. She also became the new flagship of the company, and she made an instant impact on the Northeast Aegean Sea. Despite hitting the pier of the port of Chios just one week after her entry to service, she did not have any damage and continued her services. She was later placed under the command of the legendary Cpt Zafeiris Vagias. Her impeccable indoor areas and her large number of passenger cabins made her one of the most luxurious and most comfortable ships of the Greek coastal service, and her speed (which sometimes reached 22 knots) made her an extremely reliable and beloved ferry on the line on which she was operating. She rapidly became a reference point for Chios and Mytilene, and was the favourite ship of many passengers traveling to and from these islands. Her entry to service helped propel NEL Lines into one of the most successful ferry operators in Greece, as their profits more than doubled and their reputation as a passenger-friendly company was confirmed. Even those that did not travel to the Northeast Aegean Sea and who saw the MYTILENE in Piraeus were extremely impressed with her appearance, a trait that would remain even as she neared the end of her career. She formed a spectacular duo with the SAPPHO, in spite of the latter experiencing a decline in her technical abilities (despite her machinery being renovated in 1991) as she neared two decades of service with NEL Lines. While the SAPPHO had been dubbed  'The Queen of the Aegean Sea' during the 1970s and the 1980s, the MYTILENE herself was known as  'The Queen of the Northeast Aegean Sea', being compared to an actual cruise ship by the residents of Chios and Mytilene. Together with the reliable performances of the ever-loyal-serving ALCAEOS and those of the AGIOS RAFAEL (which notably operated on a direct service on the Piraeus-Mytilene line), NEL Lines was thriving. They attempted to make a break on the Adriatic Sea with the HOMERUS (as international services did not require a mandatory retirement for ferries at 35 years old), which was deployed on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Bari line. However, the service was not successful and the ship was sold in 1993 to the Greek-Cypriot company Salamis Lines, for whom she operated as the NISSOS KYPROS until she was sold for scrap in 2003. The MYTILENE, having been entirely remodeled and renovated, seen docked in her namesake port during the 1992 season, which was her first one in Greece and under NEL Lines. She immediately became the best ship to operate on the Northeast Aegean Sea, and her onboard amenities and speed made her the favourite ship of the passengers traveling on the Northeast Aegean Sea. Picture taken by Rijn De Ruiter and published on www.shipspotting.com . The MYTILENE seen in Piraeus during her debut season in 1992. Picture taken by Georgios Choriatellis and published on www.facebook.com . The MYTILENE seen as she sails to Piraeus along the coast of Attica in 1993. This iconic picture would feature in several advertisement brochures and magazines of NEL Lines, as well as on many postcards. Picture published on www.simplonpc.co.uk . The spectacular services of the MYTILENE saw the ship being chosen as the best ship of the Greek coastal service in 1993 and in 1994, as voted by the Greek shipping-themed magazine 'Efoplistis' which had just started publications. She continued to be the jewel of the Northeast Aegean Sea, to the point that she began to overshadow the beloved SAPPHO. With the Greek coastal service continuing to experience a major boom with many new ferries and operators performing multiple island connections across the Aegean Sea, NEL Lines sought to further build-on from its success with the MYTILENE by making key decisions, both operationally and structurally. Under the leadership of Ioannis Antoniou, the company decided to further improve its services on the Northeast Aegean Sea in 1994 by deploying the ALCAEOS on a lifeline based from Rafina, namely the Rafina-Patmos-Samos-Chios-Mytilene-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala-Thessaloniki line (while also performing a trip on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line once a week). This proved to be a major success, and the ship managed to push the NISSOS CHIOS out of the area, resulting in the collapse of NE Chiou and the ship being laid-up until she was sold for scrap in 2006. In 1995, the company made further moves, by notably making an initial public offering and being listed in the Athens Stock Exchange (hence following the trend of major Greek companies, such as Minoan Lines and the newly-established company Superfast Ferries). Moreover, the company proceeded to buying a larger ship for the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line, in order to add capacity to an ever-increasing demand for passenger and freight service on the Northeast Aegean Sea, for which the garages of the SAPPHO and of the MYTILENE were not large enough. This new ship was the cruiseferry POLLUX of Ventouris Ferries (previously the NILS HOLGERSSON of the German company TT-Line GmbH and then the ABEL TASMAN of the Australian company TT-Line Company Pty Ltd), which was renamed THEOFILOS and became the new flagship of NEL Lines. She was inserted on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene along with the MYTILENE and the SAPPHO, which continued to operate on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line and on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala line, respectively. Despite having a rocky start due to colliding with the main pier of the port of Chios (hence experiencing an accident similar to that of the MYTILENE during her own debut season), the THEOFILOS further cemented the dominance of NEL Lines together with the MYTILENE. They would go on to remain the main duo of the company on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line for the next 13 years, and they are largely viewed as one of the greatest duos in the history of the Greek coastal service. The company expanded further into the Northeast Aegean Sea, by deploying the AGIOS RAFAEL on the Piraeus-Syros-Psara-Chios-Mytilene-Volos line, hence connecting Volos with many islands for the first time. The ship would then also serve Rafina along with the ALCAEOS in 1996, as she was deployed on the Piraeus-Rafina-Syros-Psara-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Volos line. The THEOFILOS further complemented the MYTILENE on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line, and NEL Lines remained the unbreakable powerhouse of the Northeast Aegean Sea for the remainder of the decade. A historic picture featuring four ships of NEL Lines being docked together in the port of Mytilene in 1996. These are (from left to right) the THEOFILOS, the MYTILENE, the ALCAEOS and the SAPPHO. This incredible picture is the pure illustration of how great NEL Lines used to be as a company, especially during the 1990s, at a time during which it was linking the islands of the Northeast Aegean Sea with the rest of Greece under numerous itineraries. Picture taken by Nikos Matas and published on www.lesvosnews.net . The MYTILENE seen docked in Piraeus during the summer of 1996. She had by now been an established ship on the Northeast Aegean Sea and on the Greek coastal service altogether. Picture published on www.arxiplegalos.gr . The MYTILENE seen docked in Mytilene, while the THEOFILOS is seen having entered the port, during the 1998 season. Picture published on www.ellinikiaktoploia.net . With the continuous success of its ships and in particular of the MYTILENE, NEL Lines remained a dominant company on the Northeast Aegean Sea, and maintained a monopoly on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. New developments from 1997 included the addition of Alexandroupolis on the lifeline served by the ALCAEOS from Rafina, as well as occasional services linking the Northeast Aegean Sea with the Dodecanese along the Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos-Patmos-Leros-Kalymnos-Kos-Rhodes line from 1997 to 1999. That year, NEL Lines decided to further expand its fleet by planning to add four new ships. The first of them was the RO-Pax ferry EUROMANTIQUE of the Swedish company Euroway, which had been laid-up since 1998 after an unsuccessful charter to the Spanish company Isnasa. That ship, which also had a brief spell under the Greek company AK Ventouris as the AGIA METHODIA on the Patras-Brindisi line on the Adriatic Sea from 1994 to 1995, arrived in Perama in 1999 and was renamed TAXIARCHIS . She was deployed on the Piraeus-Syros-Chios-Mytilene line, and she therefore complemented the services of the three ships that operated there, namely the MYTILENE, the THEOFILOS and the SAPPHO. Her entry to service proved to be very successful as well, and she was largely praised for providing additional vehicle capacity as well as a fair amount of passengers, as opposed to the smaller AGIOS RAFAEL which began to be outdated and no longer able to respond to the ever-growing passenger and freight demand. As a result, the ship would end her career under NEL Lines following the 2000 season, and she was sold the following year to the Fijian company Consort Shipping, for whom she operated as the SPIRIT OF FIJI ISLANDS on the Koro Sea until she sank in 2013. The other three ships would turn out to be the most impressive ones to have served under NEL Lines. However, they were also the ones that marked the start of the company's decline, and ultimately its demise. Indeed, these were three high speed ferries that were planned to be built in France and due to be delivered between 2000 and 2001. They were advertised as the fastest ships to operate in Greece, and they were expected to propel NEL Lines to the top of the Greek ferry market, even as the latter saw radical changes occurring from 1998 to 2000. Indeed, at that time, the company Minoan Flying Dolphins was formed, and it absorbed almost all the companies that were operating on the Cyclades, on the Saronic Gulf and on the Sporades. The company also considered taking over shares of NEL Lines, but this never happened and the latter kept all its fleet and services on the Northeast Aegean Sea. They also acquired a 70% stake of the Greek company Med Link Ferries which was operating on the Adriatic Sea, while ANEK Lines itself eventually purchased a few shares previously owned by NEL Lines, and the latter proceeded to performing the order of the three new high speed ferries. The first one to be deployed was the AEOLOS EXPRESS, which began service in 2000 on the Piraeus-Rafina-Andros-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Chios-Mytilene line. The following year, the AEOLOS KENTERIS was delivered to the company. She was the largest high speed ferry in the world at the time, as well as the fastest high speed craft in the Greek coastal service (at least that was as she was being marketed), and she was inserted on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line along with the conventional ferries of NEL Lines, performing the leg from Piraeus to Mytilene in barely less than five hours. She also became the new flagship of the company, although she would later lose this title back to the THEOFILOS a few years later. The last ship of the trio, namely the AEOLOS EXPRESS II, was also delivered in 2001 after several delays and technical issues, and she was deployed on the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Amorgos line (while also performing a few services on the Piraeus-Kea-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line as well). Despite their potential, the three high speed craft never managed to deliver the expected results and to make profits for the company. While they did manage to transport several passengers, their results were mixed. The AEOLOS KENTERIS was too large and too fast for the Northeast Aegean Sea, and she was notably criticised for generating large waves in the beaches of Chios and Lesbos, as well as further coasts such as those in Chalkidiki. This led to numerous complaints and accidents, and this damaged the company's reputation. NEL Lines was also too inexperienced regarding the technical management of high speed craft (having also believed that bunker prices would remain low despite the ships' high bunker consumption and that they would be able to operate them with a single crew), as opposed to Minoan Flying Dolphins (which became Hellas Flying Dolphins in 2002) which had established a strong brandname with its 'Highspeed' vessels on the Cyclades. As a result, the AEOLOS EXPRESS and the AEOLOS EXPRESS II were not able to match the success of their competitors on the Cyclades, where NEL Lines was also an unestablished operator due to having previously focused on the Northeast Aegean Sea and on the Dodecanese. They also encountered numerous technical problems, which the company initially blamed the shipyard in which they were built for, but even after properly maintaining them, problems persisted. The company was also affected by the 2000 stock market crash in Athens, and therefore its growth was hampered, especially after it had previously raised new share capital. Despite these first setbacks, NEL Lines continued to provide excellent services through the MYTILENE, the THEOFILOS and the TAXIARCHIS. Later on, in 2001, the company saw the first serious competition in many years arriving on their flagship service. Indeed, Minoan Flying Dolphins deployed the cruiseferry FEDRA (previously owned by Minoan Lines and also, coincidentally, the sister ship of the THEOFILOS) on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. However, the ship was unable to perform better than those of NEL Lines and she was withdrawn after just one season. In spite of these volatile events, the MYTILENE remained vital to the company, and she was still the favourite ship of the residents of Chios and of Mytilene. The MYTILENE seen resting in the port of Piraeus in 2000. During a time filled with many ups and downs for NEL Lines, the ship remained very reliable and effective, and she continued to be known as ' The Queen of the Northeast Aegean Sea'. Picture taken by Peter Inpijn and published on www.shipspotting.com . The MYTILENE seen after having just entered the port of Piraeus, following the completion of one of her usual trips on the Northeast Aegean Sea, during the summer of 2001. Picture taken by Georgios Choriatellis and published on www.shipspotting.com . As the Greek coastal service continued to witness various developments marked by the delivery of several newly-built ferries (most notably for companies likes Minoan Lines, Superfast Ferries, Blue Star Ferries which had been established in 2000 as the successor of Strintzis Lines, ANEK Lines and NEL Lines) as well as the retirement of several veteran ships (in particular following the tragic sinking of the EXPRESS SAMINA on 26 September 2000) , NEL Lines tried to keep a steady profile with its ships. The TAXIARCHIS had been deployed on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala-Thessaloniki line as an additional ship. The AEOLOS EXPRESS was deployed on the Piraeus-Kea-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Ikaria-Samos line and on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos line in 2001, but she again failed to operate successfully. This was also the case for the other two high speed ferries, even as the AEOLOS KENTERIS then made an unsuccessful entry on the Piraeus-Kalymnos-Kos-Rhodes line on the Dodecanese in 2002, after which she returned to the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line in 2003, where she continued to cause problems in local beaches of the Northeast Aegean Sea. In addition, NEL Lines proceeded to selling its two longest-serving ships in 2002. Indeed, the SAPPHO, which had been operating for the company ever since it had started operations, was sold to Karras-Pontikos Lines and she operated as the SANTORINI 3 in Tanzania until she was sold for scrap in 2004. Along with her, the ALCAEOS was sold as well, namely to the Turkish company Sariaroğlu Shipping & Trading, for whom she operated as the SOCHI EXPRESS on the Trabzon-Sochi line on the Black Sea until she was sold for scrap in 2004 as well. With her departure, NEL Lines stopped connecting Rafina with the Northeast Aegean Sea Islands, and for some time ceased to focus on the lifelines of the Northeast Aegean Sea, which were instead served by the ships of Saos Ferries. The SAPPHO, on the other hand, had already shown signs of fatigue in her last years under NEL Lines, as her advanced age and numerous technical problems combined with her outdated speed saw her leaving the company at 36 years old. To that end, the renewed fleet of NEL Lines consisted of the three conventional ferries operating on the flagship service of the company (namely the MYTILENE, the THEOFILOS and the TAXIARCHIS) and of the three troublesome high speed ferries. Due to their technical issues and their inability to make profits for the company, the AEOLOS EXPRESS and the AEOLOS EXPRESS II did not operate during the 2005 season and during the 2006 season. In 2005, ANEK Lines ceased its involvement with NEL Lines, and its shares were taken over by a holding company named Edgewater Holdings. For the 2006 season, the lineup remained the same, with the TAXIARCHIS serving the Piraeus-Mykonos-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos line. Additionally, the AEOLOS KENTERIS saw her engines being fully refitted and she was deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Santorini line, where she had a decent season, but not enough to overtake the high speed ferries of Hellenic Seaways, which was the successor of Hellas Flying Dolphins. The latter also sought to deploy, after many years of delays, a ship in the territory of NEL Lines. This was the newly-built NISSOS MYKONOS (known as the BLUE STAR MYCONOS of Blue Star Ferries since 2020) , which entered service in 2005 on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. This new ship was extremely modern and comfortable, while also having significant passenger capacity. Her innovative design and amenities made her perhaps the most impressive new introduction on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line since the MYTILENE herself back in 1992. Moreover, Saos Ferries also made a major entry into the area by deploying the conventional ferry SAMOTHRAKI on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala line for two seasons, after having also started to operate the Ro-Ro carrier PANAGIA KRIMNIOTISSA (previously the STAR TRAILER of Express Sea Trailers and Minoan Flying Dolphins/Hellas Flying Dolphins) on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line since 2003. Overall, these years would ultimately destabilise NEL Lines, and its guaranteed success on the Aegean Sea was beginning to be seriously challenged, primarily due to strong competitors and the disappointing performances of its high speed ferries. Despite this, the MYTILENE continued to be the company's best-performing ship, as she encountered very few problems overall. The MYTILENE seen resting in Piraeus in 2003. By that time, the ship had just turned 30 and she was now considered a veteran ferry of the Greek coastal service. Despite this, she still performed her services at very high standards. Picture taken by Ted Blank and published on www.faktaomfartyg.se . The MYTILENE seen in her usual docking spot in the E2 gate in Piraeus, where she was loading passengers and vehicles in order to head to Chios and Mytilene during the 2004 season. Picture taken by Aleksi Lindström and published on www.shipspotting.com . The MYTILENE seen in Piraeus in late 2004, as she saw her livery being modified. Indeed, NEL Lines had signed an advertising deal with the home appliances and telecommunications company LG, which resulted in the latter featuring on the ship's hull, as well as that of the THEOFILOS. This deal was made after the three high speed ferries of NEL Lines (namely the AEOLOS KENTERIS, the AEOLOS EXPRESS and the AEOLOS EXPRESS II) had spent the summers of 2003 and 2004 advertising fellow telecommunications companies TIM and Telestet, respectively. These deals echoed those undertaken by Hellas Flying Dolphins/Hellenic Seaways with Vodafone from 2005 to 2013. Picture taken by Michael Van Bosch and published on www.shipspotting.com . The MYTILENE seen in Piraeus, with the full livery of the LG advertisement signs on her hull during the 2005 season. Unlike the three high speed ferries whose hulls were repainted in blue, the ship kept her traditional white livery, along with the famed trireme logo of NEL Lines. Picture taken by Marius Esman and published on www.shipspotting.com . Another view of the MYTILENE in Piraeus during the 2005 season, as she was being sponsored by LG. Picture taken by Andreas Wörteler and published on www.faktaomfartyg.se . The MYTILENE seen leaving the port of Mytilene during the summer of 2006. That year, after the sponsorship deal with LG had ended, the ship sailed with a simple all-white livery without the NEL Lines insignia being written on both sides of her hull. They were eventually added back in early 2007. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . The MYTILENE seen in Piraeus in 2007, carrying the NEL Lines insignia of both sides of her hull once again. This was now her sixteenth consecutive season on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line. Picture taken by Kostas Loudaros and published on www.marinetraffic.com . Following two very turbulent seasons in 2005 and in 2006, NEL Lines came in 2007 with the hopes of an overall turnaround. However, that year also proved to be very volatile, with a few expansions as well as some fleet departures. In terms of expansion, the company proceeded to acquiring the company C-Link Ferries (previously known as AK Ventouris, who once owned the TAXIARCHIS) which was under the management of Apostolos Ventouris. This resulted in NEL Lines acquiring four new ships, namely the conventional ferries PANAGIA TINOU (previously the LEMNOS of Nomicos Lines and then of Minoan Flying Dolphins/Hellas Flying Dolphins) and PANAGIA HOZOVIOTISSA (formerly the ARGOSTOLI of NEKI and then of Ionian Lines and Seven Islands Lines, as well as the MYRTOS of Nea Pnoi Shipping), and two high speed ferries that were sister ships, namely the PANAGIA THALASSINI and the PANAGIA PAROU. The two conventional ferries were operating on the subsidised inter-Cyclades services based from Lavrion and Syros, while the two high speed craft had previously operated on the Cyclades. The PANAGIA THALASSINI had spent the 2006 season on the Lavrion-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos line, while the PANAGIA PAROU was on the Lavrion-Paros-Naxos-Amorgos line. The four ships joined NEL Lines, and the two conventional ferries remained on their inter-Cyclades services, namely the Lavrion-Kea-Kythnos-Andros-Syros-Tinos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Sikinos-Folegandros-Kimolos-Milos-Sifnos-Serifos lifeline served by the PANAGIA HOZOVIOTISSA and the Lavrion-Kea-Kythnos-Andros-Tinos-Syros-Paros-Naxos-Donousa-Amorgos-Koufonisi-Schoinousa-Irakleia-Folegandros-Sikinos-Ios-Thirassia-Santorini-Anafi lifeline served by the PANAGIA TINOU. The PANAGIA THALASSINI was introduced on a new service on the Lavrion-Kythnos-Paros-Naxos-Amorgos line during the 2007 season. The AEOLOS EXPRESS II was reactivated after two years, being inserted on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos line after having been renamed AEOLOS KENTERIS II . That year therefore saw NEL Lines attempting to further assert its presence on the Cyclades, and therefore investing beyond the Northeast Aegean Sea. They also tried their luck in Crete for the first time, as they reactivated the AEOLOS EXPRESS (which had been renamed AEOLOS KENTERIS I ) with upgraded engines, so that she could operate on the Piraeus-Rethymnon line, which was left vacated by ANEK Lines that year. However, these new additions were also coupled with several fleet departures. Indeed, in order to generate more funds, the company sold the PANAGIA PAROU together with the problematic AEOLOS KENTERIS to the Egyptian company Namma Lines, and the ships were renamed RED SEA II and RED SEA I, respectively. They headed for service on the Safaga-Jeddah line on the Red Sea. They were also joined there by the TAXIARCHIS, which was chartered for the duration of the summer of 2007. Therefore, the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line was left with only two ships, namely the THEOFILOS and the MYTILENE. The latter remained very effective, especially under the command of the excellent Cpt Diamantis Papageorgiou. However, the competition there continued to increase. Indeed, despite the departure of the SAMOTHRAKI of Saos Ferries from the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala line (after which she headed to the Thessaloniki-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos line ) , Hellenic Seaways began to attract more passengers onboard the NISSOS MYKONOS. The company then further enhanced its services on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line by having the sister ship of the NISSOS MYKONOS, namely the NISSOS CHIOS (known as the BLUE STAR CHIOS of Blue Star Ferries since 2020) , delivered to them in 2007. As she had more passenger cabins than the NISSOS MYKONOS, she replaced the latter and she quickly made an impact on the Northeast Aegean Sea. Both sister ships also earned the prestigious 'Ship of the Year' award given by Lloyd's List Greek Shipping Awards for 2006 and 2007, respectively. Hellenic Seaways itself won the 'Passenger Line of the Year' award in the 2007 event, mainly due to its success on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. As such, NEL Lines saw their previously-uncontested dominance on the Northeast Aegean Sea being now seriously challenged. Things were not made better by the fact that the THEOFILOS had started to display several technical issues beginning in 2005, as a result of poor maintenance and rushed refits, with NEL Lines paying little attention to her declining machinery. As such, the ship started to experience numerous delays and engine troubles, something that she would go on to suffer for the rest of her career and which would result in heavy criticism by regular travelers on the Northeast Aegean Sea. In spite of all these setbacks and the troubled situation of NEL Lines, the MYTILENE continued to thrive, even as she was nearing 35 years of service. The mandatory retirement for reaching that age limit had been removed since 2006, hence this meant that the ship was able to continue her operations beyond 2008. The MYTILENE seen having entered the port of Piraeus during the summer of 2007, which was quite a challenging one for NEL Lines. Picture taken by Aleksi Lindström and published on www.shispotting.com . The MYTILENE seen departing the port of Piraeus during the summer of 2007. Picture taken by Jukka Koskimies and published on www.shipspotting.com . The MYTILENE seen sailing off the coast of Attica in early 2008, just a few months after she received the new livery of NEL Lines. Indeed, all the ships had their hulls painted in dark blue throughout 2007. As a result, NEL Lines abandoned the all-white livery previously seen on its ships, even though the high speed craft of the company had already been painted in dark blue since 2003. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . After a very challenging 2007 season, NEL Lines hoped for a more prosperous 2008. However, once again, the company experienced yet another turbulent year. While the TAXIARCHIS returned to the company, the PANAGIA THALASSINI was withdrawn and she remained in Perama and then in Lavrion for the entire 2008 season, amidst rumours that she would also be heading to Namma Lines, although this never happened. The AEOLOS KENTERIS I left the Piraeus-Rethymnon line after just one season and she was deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos line. The year was, however, marked by two notable accidents which heavily affected the operations of NEL Lines. The first one was the collision of the AEOLOS KENTERIS II with the RODANTHI of GA Ferries (and, of course, the sister ship of the MYTILENE) in Piraeus in April 2008, which resulted in the bow of the high speed craft being severely damaged. She was reactivated but she then left for the Red Sea, under charter to Namma Lines. But the most severe accident was that of the THEOFILOS two months later. Indeed, the cruiseferry was heading from Piraeus to Chios when she ran aground in the island of Oinousses late at night while carrying 475 passengers and 97 crew members. The hull on her port side was significantly damaged, with a large slash causing water to infiltrate some of her watertight compartments, and this resulted in the ship developing a 2.50 degree list. She was ultimately salvaged in time and she was towed to Elefsina. Her damage saw her missing the rest of the season and remaining in Salamina until repairs began in Perama. She only returned to service in May 2009, with the repairs having cost the company an estimated €5 million. Being left without one of their main ferries, NEL Lines only had the MYTILENE and the TAXIARCHIS on the Northeast Aegean Sea. Hellenic Seaways took much advantage of the loss and the NISSOS CHIOS was able to consolidate her dominance on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. Things became worse after ANEK Lines also decided to enter on the Northeast Aegean Sea in order to fill the void left by the THEOFILOS, doing so by deploying the veteran ferry LISSOS on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line. The ship proved to be very successful, and therefore the dominance of NEL Lines was now over, as it now faced two very serious competitors. The MYTILENE seen docked in Piraeus during the summer of 2008, one that was even more challenging as she did not operate alongside her usual partner, namely the THEOFILOS. Picture taken by Dennis Mortimer and published on www.marinetraffic.com . A very special picture showing two sister ships built in Japan and operating for different companies in Greece. Most importantly, both ships went on to have spectacular careers in the Greek coastal service, and they are regarded as two of the best ferries to have ever operated on the Aegean Sea. The MYTILENE, previously known as the VEGA in Japan, is seen leaving the port of Piraeus in 2008, while the RODANTHI, previously the VIRGO, is seen arriving in the port. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . For the 2009 season, NEL Lines continued to face many uncertainties, especially as the competition continued to threaten them. In a dire need of securing more revenue as shareholders began to become dissatisfied with the limited amount of capital, the company sought to reassert its dominance on the Northeast Aegean Sea by taking over several subsidised lifelines that were abandoned by Saos Ferries at the end of the 2008 season, following their financial issues. The TAXIARCHIS was deployed on the Lavrion-Psara-Mytilene-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala line, while the repaired THEOFILOS was deployed on the Thessaloniki-Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos-Ikaria line. The PANAGIA THALASSINI was reactivated and she was deployed on the Sporades and the Northeast Aegean Sea, serving the Volos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Limnos-Agios Efstratios-Psara-Chios line. The AEOLOS KENTERIS I and the AEOLOS KENTERIS II had replaced the PANAGIA HOZOVIOTISSA and the PANAGIA TINOU on their respective inter-Cyclades lifeline services, which resulted in both conventional ferries being retired. The PANAGIA TINOU was sold in 2009 to the Turkish company Trabzon Shipping and she was renamed TRABZON, while the PANAGIA HOZOVIOTISSA remained under lay-up until she was sold for scrap to Turkey in 2010. The MYTILENE remained alone on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line, competing against the NISSOS CHIOS and the LISSOS, as well as the Ro-Ro carrier ALEXANDRA T of Tsirikos Lines (previously the SATURNUS of Ventouris Ferries) which was withdrawn later in the season. Overall, NEL Lines performed well in 2009, but the competitors won further ground on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line as the company was left with just one ship. The company also remained under financial uncertainty, but then surprisingly announced the return of the AEOLOS KENTERIS and of the PANAGIA PAROU after purchasing them back from Namma Lines, where the two ships had largely underperformed. There were therefore several rumours regarding where the two high speed craft would be deployed in 2010. At the same time, the Greek financial crisis also started to have a large effect on the ferry sector, and many companies would soon cease most if not all their operations. One of them was GA Ferries, which ceased to operate altogether after the summer of 2009 ended. All of its ships were laid-up in Piraeus and in Elefsina before they were all sold for scrap, including the RODANTHI which headed to Aliağa in 2012. The MYTILENE seen exiting the port of Piraeus during the 2009 season. This was the first season during which she did not have a partner on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line, but she nevertheless performed very well that year. Picture taken by Manos Petrakos and published on www.marinetraffic.com . The MYTILENE docked in Piraeus during the summer of 2009. Picture taken by Georgios Koutsoukis and published on www.faktaomfartyg.se . Ahead of the 2010 season, NEL Lines experienced a dramatic and unexpected change in their strategy. Indeed, despite its various economic, technical and operational problems that hampered them for the entirety of the 2000s, the company proceeded to perform an impressive fleet expansion by buying and chartering numerous passenger ships and Ro-Ro carriers. These included   the MYRTIDIOTISSA of ANEN Lines (which was renamed AQUA MARIA) , the AQUA JEWEL of Alpha Ferries , the EUROPEAN EXPRESS of Access Ferries , the Ro-Ro carriers of Adriatic Lines RO-PAX 1 (which was renamed AQUA HERCULES) and RO-PAX 2 (which was renamed OLYMPUS) and the Ro-Ro carrier MYKONOS of Mykonos ANE (now the TALOS of Creta Cargo Lines) . They also went on to charter the high speed craft of My Ferries that were being prepared for the summer season, namely the MYCAT I (which was renamed ALKIONI, and which is now the CAT I of Magic Sea Ferries ) and the MYCAT II (which was renamed CYCLADES EXPRESS, and which is now the NAXOS JET of Sea Jets ), two Ro-Ro carriers built in Japan (the COLOSSUS and the IPPOTIS). With all these new acquisitions, they proceeded to expand their services on the Aegean Sea as well as on the Adriatic Sea. The AQUA JEWEL was inserted on the inter-Cyclades lifeline previously served by the AEOLOS KENTERIS I, which spent the 2010 season on charter to the French company SNCM (which has been known as Corsica Linea since 2016) as the NGV LIAMONE II. The MYKONOS, the COLOSSUS and the IPPOTIS were introduced under the new NEL Lines Cargo division. The MYKONOS was deployed on the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ikaria-Samos line, while the COLOSSUS and the IPPOTIS operated on the Cyclades and on the Dodecanese, namely on the Piraeus-Kos-Rhodes line and on the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ikaria-Samos-Kos-Rhodes line, respectively. The AQUA HERCULES and the OLYMPUS remained on the Adriatic Sea, serving the Corinth-Ancona line and the Trieste-Durrës line, respectively (they would then both head to the Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Bari line in 2011). The AQUA MARIA was converted in late 2010 and she entered service on the Lavrion-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala, where she replaced the TAXIARCHIS, which moved to the Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos-Ikaria line and joined the THEOFILOS on the Northeast Aegean Sea lifeline. The PANAGIA THALASSINI won the subsidy contract for the Lavrion-Chios-Psara line, and therefore the company had another lifeline to serve on the Northeast Aegean Sea. It also made a full entry on the Sporades, whereupon the ALKIONI was deployed on the Volos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Thessaloniki line. The PANAGIA PAROU was also due to operate there, but she instead headed to the Adriatic Sea and she operated on the Bari-Durrës line. The CYCLADES EXPRESS was deployed on the Heraklion-Santorini line for just a few days in August before being withdrawn. But perhaps the most noteworthy deployment was that of the EUROPEAN EXPRESS, which joined the MYTILENE on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. This was done in order for NEL Lines to reassert itself on its flagship service and to improve their performance against the NISSOS CHIOS and the LISSOS. The EUROPEAN EXPRESS and the MYTILENE, despite being 36 years old 37 years old, respectively, performed extremely well together. While they were unable to match the services of the NISSOS CHIOS, they did impose some damage to ANEK Lines, which withdrew the LISSOS after the season ended and sold her for scrap in 2011. The year was considered satisfactory overall for NEL Lines, but some of their services on the Adriatic Sea and on the Dodecanese, as well as on the Heraklion-Santorini line, were not successful. Moreover, the THEOFILOS in particular had another poor season marked by engine failures and delayed trips, and therefore many locals complained further. Additionally, the company was still left with some unemployable ships, most notably the AEOLOS KENTERIS which had not performed any trips since her return from the Red Sea. The MYTILENE seen as she leaves the port of Mytilene during the summer of 2010. Picture taken by Georgios Choriatellis and published on www.marinetraffic.com . The MYTILENE seen docked in her namesake port in 2010, during another very effective summer season during which she was part of a great duo along with the EUROPEAN EXPRESS. Picture taken by Georgios Solomos and published on www.marintetraffic.com . The surprising moves and overall expansion performed by NEL Lines during the 2010 season carried on in 2011, albeit to a lesser extent. While the lineup on the Northeast Aegean Sea remained mostly the same, the company further dedicated itself to the Cyclades and the Sporades. The Heraklion-Santorini line performed by the CYCLADES EXPRESS was abandoned, but the company made a major move by acquiring the ferry MR SHOPPY ONE of the Swedish company Mr Shoppy (a ship built in Greece in 2001 and which was previously the AGIOS ANDREAS II of Agios Andreas Shipping and then the ANDREAS II of Kefalonia Lines before her sale to Sweden in 2007). The ship was renamed AQUA SPIRIT and replaced the AEOLOS KENTERIS II on the Lavrion-Kea-Kythnos-Andros-Tinos-Syros-Paros-Naxos-Donousa-Amorgos-Koufonisi-Schoinousa-Irakleia-Folegandros-Sikinos-Ios-Thirassia-Santorini-Anafi lifeline. The high speed ferry was sent for lay-up in Salamina, where she has remained ever since. The company further enhanced its presence on the Sporades by deploying the PANAGIA PAROU on the Agios Konstantinos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos line, while the ALKIONI was once again on the Volos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Thessaloniki line. The AEOLOS KENTERIS I, which had completed her charter under SNCM and reverted back to her previous name, was also sent to the Adriatic Sea, performing services on the Zakynthos-Kefalonia-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Brindisi line during the high season only. The AEOLOS KENTERIS was also finally reactivated and performed very few trips on the Adriatic Sea as well, on the Bari-Durrës line in place of the PANAGIA PAROU. The company also attempted to operate on the connection of Mytilene with Turkey, which was materialised after the purchase of the landing craft KONSTANTINOS G of Costal Lines, which was serving the Mytilene-Dikili line. She was refitted and resumed her service there. The 2011 season was deemed successful overall, despite continuous technical issues for some ships like the THEOFILOS (which missed the entire 2011 season due to more engine troubles) and the TAXIARCHIS. While the fleet expansion was well received by passengers, it was met with skepticism by some, as it seemed incomprehensible for a company that was mainly based on government-subsidised lifelines to buy and charter so many ferries at once, including some that had been inactive for as many as two years. Eventually, these acquisitions caused a huge debt for the company, from which they never recovered and which ended-up sealing their demise just four years later. Indeed, by 2012, just two years after expanding their fleet, NEL Lines had already confirmed that it had reached a ceiling, as several of the ships they chartered left after only one or two seasons. The CYCLADES EXPRESS and the ALKIONI were sent for lay-up in 2010 and 2012 respectively, the departures of the IPPOTIS and of the COLOSSUS ended the company's presence on the Dodecanese after only two years (they were then scrapped in 2014 and in 2013, respectively), the AQUA HERCULES and the OLYMPUS had an unsuccessful spell on the Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Bari line and were sold to the Emirati company SAMC (and spent the next years laid-up in Port Saïd, with the OLYMPUS heading for scrap in 2017), the PANAGIA THALASSINI and the PANAGIA PAROU ended their respective services on the Sporades and on the Northeast Aegean Sea in order to be chartered to Inter Shipping on the Algeciras-Tangier Med line on the Gibraltar Strait (a charter that lasted just a season and which turned out to be a failure, as both owners and charterers ended-up suffering from economic problems). The Lavrion-Chios-Psara line served by the PANAGIA THALASSINI was taken over by the AQUA MARIA, whose service on the Lavrion-Psara-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala was assigned to the TAXIARCHIS. The AEOLOS KENTERIS, the AEOLOS KENTERIS I and the AEOLOS KENTERIS II were laid-up in Salamina after the 2011 season ended. With the impact of the Greek financial crisis and the high fuel costs, together with their history of technical issues and unsuccessful services, the three ships were never reactivated again by the company, despite some attempts to do so in 2012 and in 2013. But their unprofitability made all these scenarios impossible, especially as NEL Lines would go on to lose their ground on the Northeast Aegean Sea. Indeed, even though ANEK Lines had stopped services in the region after the 2010 season, the company faced a new and far more serious threat similar to that of Hellenic Seaways when they brought the NISSOS MYKONOS and then the NISSOS CHIOS on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line. This was the introduction of the newly-built BLUE STAR PATMOS of Blue Star Ferries , which was deployed on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene to compete against NEL Lines and Hellenic Seaways. This impressive new ferry quickly made an impact, and now NEL Lines found themselves having veteran ferries competing against two very modern and faster cruiseferries. They tried to improve the situation by having three ships serving Chios and Mytilene from Piraeus. To that end, the repaired THEOFILOS was brought back to its flagship service, operating on the Piraeus-Ikaria-Samos-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala-Thessaloniki line. The MYTILENE also began operating in Ikaria and in Samos for the first time (mainly due to the fact that there were uncertainties regarding the deployment of the NISSOS MYKONOS on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Samos line, where she had been based since 2007), as she was deployed on the Piraeus-Ikaria-Samos-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala line to complement the services of the THEOFILOS. The EUROPEAN EXPRESS served Chios and Mytilene directly from Piraeus as she was deployed on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala line. Despite their efforts, the BLUE STAR PATMOS and the NISSOS CHIOS proved to be far superior than the three ships of NEL Lines, whose ages ranged from 37 years old to 39 years old. Moreover, the services of the THEOFILOS once again came under scrutiny and she had another major engine failure in October 2012, which caused to miss many days of service. Altogether, the decline of the company was now inevitable, and it could only rely on the subsidies given by the Greek Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy and on the ships that did not have technical issues, most notably the MYTILENE. The MYTILENE seen docked in Limnos during the 2011 season, which was once again very successful for the ship in spite of her company's problems. This was notably her twentieth consecutive season on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Thessaloniki line, with her spell being the second longest-ever after that of the SAPPHO, which operated there for 29 years. Picture taken by Andreas Michailidis and published on www.marinetraffic.com . The MYTILENE seen departing the port of Chios during the summer of 2012. While Greece and NEL Lines were facing an extremely difficult period, she continued to perform at very high standards, just like she had done when she first started her career on the Northeast Aegean Sea back in 1992. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . At the conclusion of the 2012 summer season, the problems of NEL Lines had become evident and there were concerns regarding the company's profitability, despite the subsidies given for the lifelines on the Northeast Aegean Sea and on the inter-Cyclades services. The media also started reporting that many crew members had failed to be paid on time, and that the company could no longer afford significant maintenance activities, particularly for its older ferries. NEL Lines also found themselves with numerous ships under lay-up, with some being later confiscated due to debts owed to the ports in which they were docked. At the same time, the MYTILENE moved to the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line in order to replace the IERAPETRA L of ANEK Lines (today the AQUA BLUE of Sea Jets) , which had spent the 2012 season there but was withdrawn from service by her company. There were rumours that the MYTILENE would be deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line on the Cyclades in 2013, and the company actually requested a license for this service, but this ultimately never happened. The MYTILENE seen in Perama in late 2012, after having completed her annual refit. She was now leaving in order to head to Piraeus so as to start her new operations on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . The year 2013, during which the MYTILENE turned 40, proved to be a disastrous one for NEL Lines. Indeed, just as January began, the company was dealt with a huge blow. This came after the two ships operating on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line, the THEOFILOS and the EUROPEAN EXPRESS, were shockingly arrested by their crews, and this marked the first time that the company did not have a ship operating on its flagship line, which it had been serving continuously for 40 years. While there were attempts to solve the situation and reactivate the ships, frequent passengers on the Northeast Aegean Sea had started to lose their patience with the company's unreliability, and were now more keen to travel with the NISSOS CHIOS and the BLUE STAR PATMOS. Many lorry drivers also became dissatisfied with NEL Lines, instead preferring to use the Ro-Ro carrier PELAGITIS of Ainaftis , which had started operations on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line in 2010. The MYTILENE was not added back to the line that she had been serving for 20 years, as Ikaria, Fournoi and Samos would be left with no ferry connection to and from Piraeus, as the IERAPETRA L was withdrawn from service and the NISSOS MYKONOS was laid-up for the winter. As the year progrssed, the company had had found itself under an unprecedented turmoil. The THEOFILOS, due to return on the Northeast Aegean Sea lifeline, was still laid-up, the charter of the MYKONOS ended, the KONSTANTINOS G was abruptly withdrawn from her service on the Mytilene-Dikili line and never returned to operate for NEL Lines (being instead sold to the Equatorial Guinean company Somagec the following year), the AQUA JEWEL suffered an engine failure which kept her laid-up in Lavrion for three months (and thus causing issues regarding the inter-Cycaldes services), the AQUA MARIA was forced to leave the Lavrion-Psara-Chios line several times in order to cover the service left by her engine-plagued fleetmates. The EUROPEAN EXPRESS had been sent on the Northeast Aegean Sea lifeline, on the Thessaloniki-Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos-Ikaria line, while waiting for the THEOFILOS to arrive. However, she herself was due to depart that line ahead of the summer as she had been chartered to Ventouris Ferries for service on the Adriatic Sea, on the Zakynthos-Kefalonia-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Bari line. The TAXIARCHIS had a very troublesome year marked by numerous engine failures, as it was also the case for the EUROPEAN EXPRESS. NEL Lines did try to save the situation on the Northeast Aegean Sea by chartering the Ro-Pax ferry IONIAN SKY of the similarly-financially-troubled Agoudimos Lines . They were due to deploy her on the Piraeus-Lavrion-Psara-Chios-Mytilene line, but she instead went to the Thessaloniki-Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos-Ikaria line instead of the THEOFILOS. But her spell there was also very troublesome, as she also went on to have numerous technical issues, delayed and canceled trips, and her season and charter ended prematurely after she had a major engine failure in Mytilene. She was towed to Salamina and remained laid-up there, without ever being reactivated. While the majority of the fleet of NEL Lines had a disastrous season, only the MYTILENE and the AQUA SPIRIT performed well. The former in particular was praised by the residents of Ikaria and Samos. She operated for 13 months with no interruption, which was quite impressive considering her age and the poor situation of her company. She competed effectively against the NISSOS MYKONOS (even though the latter missed a large portion of the season due to a fire incident in June 2013), but the latter had a much better season, which was considered to be her most successful at the time. Nonetheless, the MYTILENE was much-appreciated even as the year was ending and the need for a proper maintenance became more apparent. My first-ever picture of the MYTILENE, as she is seen docked in the E2 gate in Piraeus during the summer of 2013, which marked her first season on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line. While I had seen the ship a few times during the 2000s in Piraeus, I never had the chance to take a picture of her until 2013. Fortunately, as I had uploaded this picture on Marine Traffic that year, it was one of the few that I could still access following my computer crash in late 2014. Therefore, I am fortunate to have kept a picture of this legendary ferry, otherwise I would have been inconsolable if all my pictures of the MYTILENE had all disappeared. That unfortunately was not the case with the THEOFILOS, whose only picture that I had taken back in 2012 has disappeared forever. The MYTILENE seen leaving Piraeus for Syros in 2013. Picture taken by Georgios Mertis and published on www.marinetraffic.com . The MYTILENE seen entering the port of Piraeus during the evening in late 2013. Even though she was now 40 years old, the ship still looked sublime and both her indoor and outdoor areas continued to be very impressive. Picture taken by Georgios Mertis and published on www.shipspotting.com . Many hoped that the summer of 2014 would be a summer of redemption for NEL Lines. However, these wishes soon turned into nightmares. The EUROPEAN EXPRESS again experienced several engine failures and delays, thus leaving many passengers livid and unsatisfied. The AQUA MARIA was sent for lay-up without any apparent reason (with her service on the Lavrion-Chios-Psara line not being taken over by another ship even though it was a subsidised service), the TAXIARCHIS and the THEOFILOS (which had returned to the Thessaloniki-Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos-Ikaria line in late 2013) also had technical problems, as did the AQUA JEWEL which suffered a new engine failure which definitively ended her NEL Lines career. Even the AQUA SPIRIT (by then the least troublesome ship of the company in terms of technical problems) started to occasionally experience engine troubles. The MYTILENE missed the first half of 2014 as she underwent her refit, and she remained docked in Drapetsona while there were rumours suggesting that her crew was unpaid for many months, and that they ceased all work onboard the ship until they received their salaries. She ultimately resumed service on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line, which had been covered by the EUROPEAN EXPRESS. The troubles faced by the latter were significant, but not worse than the THEOFILOS, which was having a terrible spell on the Northeast Aegean Sea lifeline. To that end, the EUROPEAN EXPRESS was sent to operate there just as the summer began, and the THEOFILOS was laid-up in Drapetsona, never to sail again for NEL Lines and in general for the rest of her career. The stint of the EUROPEAN EXPRESS on the Northeast Aegean Sea was beyond disastrous. Indeed, a lack of maintenance and the problems faced by the crew caused multiple delays that were even worse than the ones faced by the THEOFILOS. As a result, tourism in Ikaria, Samos, Chios, Lesbos and especially Limnos suffered due to the lack of efficient coastal service connection. Towards the end of the summer season, NEL Lines decided to switch the itineraries of the EUROPEAN EXPRESS and of the MYTILENE, in order to ensure a better connection of the Northeast Aegean Sea Islands. The EUROPEAN EXPRESS as a result returned to the Piraeus-Syros-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line, while the MYTILENE spent the last few days of August on the Thessaloniki-Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos-Ikaria line. She initially started well and finally trips on the lifeline began to operate smoothly. However, the ship then had an engine failure herself, by which time the Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy finally had enough with NEL Lines and stripped them of their operating license and subsidy allowance for service on the Northeast Aegean Sea lifeline. The services were subsequently taken over by Hellenic Seaways, which connected all islands with Piraeus with larger, younger and more efficient ferries such as the ARIADNE (which had started full-time service on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line in 2014), the NISSOS MYKONOS  and later the NISSOS RODOS . Blue Star Ferries also operated the Piraeus-Samos-Chios-Mytilene-Limnos-Kavala line in 2015 with the BLUE STAR 1 . The MYTILENE seen departing the port of Piraeus in 2014, which was her second season on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line. Picture taken by Vangelis Tzerefos and published on www.marinetraffic.com . My second and final picture of the MYTILENE, as she is seen docked in Piraeus in 2014. This was her final active year in Greece and under NEL Lines, as she would stop to operate a few months after this picture was taken following an engine failure and the collapse of NEL Lines. As a result, this picture is very meaningful, as it marked my final interaction with the ship while she was still operating. Even as that year was disastrous for NEL Lines, the ship still remained in a fair condition, and her crew did all it could in order to keep her that way, despite her age, her lack of maintenance and the fact that she had been surpassed by younger competitors. The MYTILENE seen leaving the port of Mytilene in 2014, during her brief spell on the Northeast Aegean Sea lifeline, where she was forced to replace the EUROPEAN EXPRESS which was having a very poor spell there. She was the last ship of NEL Lines to operate on this lifeline, as the company was expelled from there by the Greek Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . With NEL Lines gone from the Thessaloniki-Kavala-Limnos-Mytilene-Chios-Samos-Ikaria lifeline, the MYTILENE was inactive for a few weeks, until she made her return to the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Ikaria-Fournoi-Samos line after the EUROPEAN EXPRESS continued to experience numerous engine problems. The latter was sent for lay-up in Drapetsona next to the THEOFILOS and, just like her fleetmate, never returned to service again. With all these ships being laid-up, NEL Lines now only had three ferries operating, namely the MYTILENE on the aforementioned service in Ikaria and in Samos, the AQUA SPIRIT on her inter-Cyclades lifeline, and the TAXIARCHIS on the Lavrion-Psara-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala line. The financial woes of the company grew worse as the end of the year approached, its reputation had been severely damaged on the Northeast Aegean Sea, and therefore passengers preferred traveling on the trustworthy and reliable ships of Hellenic Seaways and Blue Star Ferries. It was only a matter of time for the company to stop operating altogether. Despite these setbacks, the MYTILENE and her other two fleetmates continued to operate, and did the best they could despite the difficult conditions of the company. The MYTILENE seen in Piraeus during an evening in late 2014. She is about to load passengers and vehicles in order to head to the five islands that she was serving in the last trips of her career. Picture taken by Sakis Antoniou and published on www.marinetraffic.com . The MYTILENE seen departing the port of Piraeus during the evening in November 2014, during the last weeks of her active career. While she continued to operate extremely well, little did she know that she would be performing her final trips due to her company's negligence and poor financial condition. Picture taken by Roy Batty and published on www.shipspotting.com . The MYTILENE seen docked in Piraeus in 2015, just a few days before she stopped sailing. Picture taken by Dimitris Mentakis and published on www.shipspotting.com . While the MYTILENE was still operating as 2015 began, she unexpectedly ended her services (and her career as a whole) in February of that year, when her main engine broke down while she was docked in Samos, in the port of Karlovasi. The remaining trip was canceled, and the ship eventually remained stuck in the island, as NEL Lines could not afford to tow her back to Piraeus, let alone repair her. Hopes for a short stay in Samos quickly vanished, and the ship was now fully abandoned by the company which had invested significantly in her just 25 years prior. Furthermore, her crew remained unpaid for many months, and she was subsequently arrested while remaining with a broken engine in Samos. As the months progressed, the ship no longer had available fuel for heating and lighting, and this left the crew under very miserable conditions, as they could also not access food provisions. NEL Lines fully neglected these unfortunate people and did not provide them any help, nor their salaries. As a result, their arduous conditions in Samos were significantly covered by the media, which notably showed the signs that they put on the ship's stern, whereupon they stated that they were hungry and penniless. At some point, they were only able to receive food and water from the army base that was located near the port! These were horrible moments for these people, and it was a shame that they were associated with a ship which had previously operated with so much success and practically no trouble for more than two decades, even when her company was no longer dedicated and among the top ones in Greece. The MYTILENE seen laid-up in the port of Karlovasi in Samos, where she ceased operating due to a major engine failure and the subsequent arrest performed by her demoralised crew in 2015. Picture taken by Panagiotis Marinakis and published on www.marinetraffic.com . A view of the stern of the MYTILENE during her lay-up in Samos, with the crew having added three notable signs which were then displayed across all media in Greece. The one on the left side of her garage and on the port side states, in Greek, 'We are hostages of the State and of shipowners'. The one in the middle over the garage and right underneath the ship's name states 'We are hungry', while the one above says 'We will fight until the end'. These were very sad scenes unworthy of a ferry company in Greece. Picture published on www.nautilia.gr . While the MYTILENE remained laid-up in Samos, NEL Lines still had two more ships under operation, but even they could not avoid the impending end. Indeed, a few months later, the TAXIARCHIS and the AQUA SPIRIT stopped service multiple times due to their crews remaining unpaid for months as well. The company still did not have the funds to solve the issue, and as a result both ships were arrested permanently in Lavrion and caused huge problems to the lines that they were serving. Eventually, NEL Lines was also ousted from the last two lifelines on which they operating. These were also taken over by Hellenic Seaways. This as a result marked the official end of the operations of NEL Lines, just before the start of the summer of 2015. The company's ships were all laid-up and were never reactivated for the once-glorious Lesbos-based maritime power, which had vanished after 42 years of operations in the Greek coastal service. However, its last 15 years had severely damaged the company's reputation, and therefore very few people lamented its closure. This was also due to the quick and effective transition that Hellenic Seaways performed in its operations on the Northeast Aegean Sea, as all its ships operated extremely well and therefore frequent passengers traveling in the area quickly forgot the troubles brought over by NEL Lines. The service of the MYTILENE in Ikaria and in Samos was covered by the NISSOS MYKONOS (which continues to serve these islands as part of her long itinerary along the Northeast Aegean Sea lifeline, as the BLUE STAR MYCONOS of Blue Star Ferries) and the NISSOS RODOS, which was replaced in 2018 by the DIAGORAS of Blue Star Ferries . The Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line, formerly the uninvadable territory of NEL Lines and the flagship service of the company on which the MYTILENE operated for 20 years, has been served since 2018 by the NISSOS RODOS and the NISSOS SAMOS, also of Hellenic Seaways . These two Japanese-built ferries are among the largest ferries of the Aegean Sea, and both serve the two islands with much success, hence carrying on the legacy left by the former flagship of NEL Lines. After spending more than a year under lay-up in Samos, the MYTILENE finally left the island under tow, in order to head to the Elefsina Bay. While her crew received their long-awaited salaries under the protection of the Navy Retirement Fund and the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation, the ship still carried enormous debts and the company could still not afford to repair her broken engine. To that end, she simply left Samos in order to continue her lay-up in the Elefsina Bay. She was placed alongside another historic ferry which was forced into lay-up due to her own company's financial issues. Indeed, this was the legendary PENELOPE A of Agoudimos Lines, one of the greatest ships to have ever operated on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line, which had been sent for lay-up in the Elefsina Bay in 2014, a few months after having been arrested in Rafina following her company's closure. The two iconic ferries, once among the most acclaimed ships of the Greek coastal service for more than two decades, were now docked together while awaiting their fates, with the prospects of a return to service seeming like a miracles as the years went by. The MYTILENE seen laid-up in the Elefsina Bay next to the PENELOPE A in late 2016. This is where the ship would go on to remain for the next six years. Once the acclaimed ship of the Northeast Aegean Sea, the MYTILENE was now a mere shadow of the incredible ferry that she used to be, having been neglected by the same company which had previously invested huge amounts in order to provide passengers heading to Chios, Mytilene, Limnos and Thessaloniki with an unforgettable experience onboard. Picture published on www.shipfriends.gr . With NEL Lines no longer active, their ships went on to await their eventual fates. Some were luckier, whereas others are still laid-up, while others like the MYTILENE spent several years of misery before finally giving in to the torch-breakers. The MYKONOS had joined Creta Cargo Lines in 2014 and was renamed TALOS , the AQUA JEWEL temporarily rejoined Alpha Ferries and returned to service in 2017 after having been bought by Sea Jets. The latter had also bought the AQUA SPIRIT and the CYCLADES EXPRESS in early 2016, and reactivated them for service on the Cyclades. The AQUA MARIA was bought by Aqua Ferries, was again renamed MYRTIDIOTISSA and entered service on the Sporades in 2016 (later becoming the ALEXANDRA L of the now-inactive Kefalonian Lines  in 2018). The PANAGIA THALASSINI returned to Greece after having been bought by Idomeneas Lines (owned by the Panagiotopoulos family) and being renamed KALLI P , but never re-entered service due to debts owed by NEL Lines. The PANAGIA PAROU remained laid-up in Algeciras until sinking inside the port in 2017, eventually being refloated and sold for scrap to Turkey in 2018. The EUROPEAN EXPRESS remained laid-up in Perama after having shifted there from Drapetsona in 2016, and she was ultimately sold for scrap to Turkey in 2019 . She was followed a year later by the IONIAN SKY, which had remained laid-up in Salamina since her withdrawal from service at the end of the 2013 season . The high speed ferry ALKIONI remained laid-up in Salamina for eight years until she began preparations for a return to service under a new owner, ultimately performing a vast refit in order to enter service on the Sporades once again, as the CAT I of Magic Sea Ferries (she is due to be deployed on the Agios Konstantinos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos line next year). The AEOLOS KENTERIS I and AEOLOS KENTERIS II have remained in Salamina for years and are progressively becoming more assimilated to the scrapyards despite their young age, while the AEOLOS KENTERIS headed to Augusta in Italy in order to start a service under charter to a Maltese company on the Augusta-Valletta line, but financial and continued technical issues faced by the ship resulted in her seizure by the Augusta Port Authority, and she has remained laid-up and now partly submerged in the Sicilian port. The TAXIARCHIS was laid-up in Lavrion from 2015 to 2018 and is now also in Salamina awaiting her fate, having also been partly submerged in recent years. The THEOFILOS had a troublesome time in Drapetsona and was finally towed to the Elefsina Bay in 2017, remaining permanently laid-up there and not far from her fleetmate and long-time partner, namely the MYTILENE. She then moved to Salamina in 2021, being docked next to the TAXIARCHIS, after the Elefsina Port Authority successfully called for her removal from the area. All ferries were placed on auction, but the attempts to have them sold and removed from the Piraeus area failed for the most part, with only the older conventional ferries heading for scrap. Over the next six years, I would frequently spot the MYTILENE from afar while driving on the coastline of Elefsina while heading to and from the Peloponnese. Whenever I had the occasion to see the ship, I would usually look at her with much regret, as she no longer was the great ferry that was beloved by Greek coastal service enthusiasts, and I would usually longer how long she will be staying there before she would eventually head for demolition. The last time that I saw the ship was on 8 September 2021, while I was heading back to Athens from Rion and Patras where I had spent the day looking at various ships that were operating there. As I could only spot her from afar, I was not able to take a picture of her, therefore the only ones that I had of the ship were during her final two operational seasons in 2013 and in 2014. In May 2022, after more than seven years of lay-up, it was reported that the MYTILENE had been sold for scrap. She was renamed LENE and was reflagged to Togo, being registered in Lomé. She therefore followed the same practices that were undertaken on the THEOFILOS, which was renamed and reflagged in a similar fashion, having her name shortened to ILOS and flying the Togolese flag. The ferry left Salamina on 13 May 2022, heading to Turkey after 47 years of service, of which 27 had been under the ownership of NEL Lines. Just more than two weeks later, the MYTILENE, now known as the LENE, left the Elefsina Bay under tow for the first time in six years. She was performing her first trip in as many years, but also the last of her career, which lasted 49 years, of which 32 were spent in Greece. She happened to leave 30 years after she first began operations under NEL Lines, after having spent two years under conversion in Perama. The ship is now in Alia ğa in Turkey, having been beached a few metres away from her former fleetmate, and will now belong to history. The day that she left Greece for the last time was filled with tributes, as many remembered the ship and her iconic career, and kept fond memories of her despite her decline after her engine failure back in 2015. While reactions to the departure of the THEOFILOS were mixed due to the ship's frequent troubles from 2004 onwards, those for the MYTILENE were much more positive and emotional. Notably, a few inhabitants of Lesbos went to see her while she was being towed to Aliağa and was passing by the island for the last time. They reminisced the thousands of trips that the ship had done while heading to and from Mytilene, which she served loyally and with great success for 20 years, even during the declining performance of NEL Lines. The latter therefore lost its greatest-ever ship (and also the longest-serving ship in the company's history, having been owned by them for 32 years even though she did not sail for the final 7 years), and the only ships that are lefts as remnants of the company (even though it has remained inactive since 2015) are the AEOLOS KENTERIS I, the AEOLOS KENTERIS II and the TAXIARCHIS in Greece, as well as the AEOLOS KENTERIS which is languishing and partly-submerged in Augusta. While it is almost certain that the 46-year-old TAXIARCHIS will likely follow the MYTILENE and the THEOFILOS to the scrapyards, some may still hope for a reactivation of the three high speed craft, as they are only between 21 and 22 years old, respectively. However, their long history of technical issues and their lengthy lay-ups which have now lasted for more than a decade, will probably fail to attract any interested investor. Indeed, the fact that even Sea Jets, which has been known to purchase high speed craft that had previously spent many years of lay-up in both Greece and overseas, has not even considered acquiring them, shows that there are many hurdles along the way which make their reactivation worthless. As such, they are also very likely to head to the scrapyards too, and therefore this would mark the end of the three problematic ships that are generally viewed as one of the major causes of the decline and the eventual demise of NEL Lines. While one would believe that technological progress at the time would result in the Northeast Aegean Sea being linked with high speed craft, ultimately the area simply required ships like the MYTILENE in order to ensure a healthy and effective connection with the rest of Greece. In a career that lasted for almost five decades, the MYTILENE became one of the most successful ships to have ever operated in Greece, and she is widely seen as the best ship to have ever operated for NEL Lines, as well as one of the greatest ferries to have operated on the Northeast Aegean Sea. After a very successful career in Japan, she arrived in Greece with much fanfare as a worthy successor of the HOMERUS, and she delivered to her company with great success for more than 20 years. Even as she became older and NEL Lines began its downhill path, the ship never disappointed anyone and she continued to compete effectively against much modern ferries that were brought by Hellenic Seaways and Blue Star Ferries, although she would later prove to be unable to match the services of these vessels. Nevertheless, she became a beloved ship on the Northeast Aegean Sea to the same extent as the SAPPHO, with whom she operated successfully for 10 years, although most believe that she surpassed her elder former fleetmate due to her more impressive areas and her faster speed. She also remained the preferred ship over the THEOFILOS (despite the latter replacing her as the flagship of NEL Lines) as well as over the faster high speed craft that joined the company in the early 2000s. She will be remembered for her very comfortable service and her impressive onboard amenities, most notably her beautiful indoor lounge areas, her nice passenger cabins, her onboard restaurants and most notably her outdoor deck areas and balconies, which gave passengers the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful trip on the Aegean Sea. Her speed was also noteworthy and remained consistent for the most part, until her advanced age and improper maintenance in the early 2010s slowed her down. Overall, her longevity and the great captains that commanded her made her a legend of the Greek coastal service, just like her sister ship, namely the iconic RODANTHI. As such, the two ships are considered to be one of the best pairs of sister ships to have ever operated in Greece, as they both propelled their respective companies to great success and dominance on the Aegean Sea, and were among the most impressive ships of the early 1990s. However, one may suggest, that, in the case of the MYTILENE, NEL Lines became the victims of her success. Indeed, having seen how valuable the ship was, they sought to further enhance their presence on the Aegean Sea, but this resulted in mostly poor investments (most notably the three high speed craft) and deployments in areas where other companies had been established for many years and could not be disposed of. As such, the turbulent years of the company during the 2000s caused economic problems, and they were ironically displaced from their own service in which they had been operating practically unopposed for 40 years by the same companies that they had tried to outperform on the Cyclades, the Sporades, the Dodecanese or the Adriatic Sea. Even while they made a desperate attempt to improve their fleet and expand their operations in 2010 and in 2011, the problems persisted, and all the ships were progressively laid-up, including the MYTILENE after her engine failure in Samos in 2015. Some wonder whether she could still be sailing today had she been sold in the 2010s to a more serious company that would have looked after her more carefully, especially when considering the fact that many ferries built in the 1970s continue to operate in Greece despite reaching or nearing 50 years of service. Altogether, I believe that the ship leaves Greece at a proper moment, having suffered for many years and being left completely abandoned for a long time. Her last seven years clearly do not represent her career, as she will always be remembered for her incredibly successful trips on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line, and she is a symbol of the Northeast Aegean Sea. I was fortunate to see her many times in Piraeus while she was still enjoying happier days, although I never had the opportunity to travel with her due to having never been on the Northeast Aegean Sea. But I will still keep many memories of the ship, as will the thousands of passengers that traveled with her frequently to Chios and Lesbos, where her status as a legend will never change. She brought them many great moments, and helped them stay linked with the rest of Greece despite their remoteness. Therefore, from the bottom of my heart, MYTILENE, I would like to thank you for your unique, acclaimed and dignified contribution to the Greek coastal service. You will be very missed, that is certain. #mytilene #nellines #aegean #northeastaegean #piraeus #greece #farewell #scrap #legend #extratribute

The NISSOS KEFALONIA seen leaving Kyllini in order to head towards Kefalonia, during the summer of 2016. This post is written in order to inform readers about one of the most shocking news in the recent history of the Greek coastal service, as the conventional ferry NISSOS KEFALONIA of Kefalonian Lines , which had been operating for the latter since 2013, was sold to their rival operator, namely Levante Ferries, based on an announcement made by both companies. These news are especially surprising due to the fact that the best ship of the company was sold to its direct fierce rival, and, as a result, the overall picture of the coastal service on the Ionian Sea will be completely different in 2019. Indeed, besides the sale of the NISSOS KEFALONIA, Kefalonian Lines announced their intentions to leave the Ionian Sea altogether, while the other company operating there, namely Zante Ferries, will sell the conventional ferry ANDREAS KALVOS to Levante Ferries as well. This therefore simply means that there will be just one company serving the islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia from Kyllini, with that being Levante Ferries. The post marks the start of the 'In The News' series on my blog, during which major news affecting the Greek coastal service (and mainly the ships that are part of this website) will be analysed in depth, with all the information and the backgrounds of the involved ships, companies and markets being provided to you. As this sale concerns the two main companies that were operating so far in Zakynthos (one of the two islands in which I go to every summer), these news will be affecting me as well, as I foresee that I would only be seeing yellow ships sailing to the island in the upcoming years. To have a better look at the news, it is important to provide you with some essential historical context dating from five years ago. Indeed, in early 2013, there are rumours regarding the reactivation of the conventional ferry KEFALONIA of Strintzis Ferries, which had been laid-up in Salamina and then in Drapetsona for 16 months. This was due to her company facing very serious economic difficulties in the middle of the Greek financial crisis. The KEFALONIA had been serving the Kyllini-Kefalonia line in 2011, while her other Strintzis Ferries fleetmate, namely the EPTANISOS, was on the company's main service, namely on the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line. It was on the latter that the KEFALONIA had been operating from 1995 to 2010, whereupon she became the most acclaimed ferry in the history of the Ionian Sea. Built in 1975 as the VENUS of the Japanese company Higashi Nihon Ferry, she had been bought from Japan by the Greek company Strintzis Lines in 1995. She operated for them from 1995 until 2000, when they were taken over by Attica Group, which rebranded the company as Blue Star Ferries. The KEFALONIA continued to serve the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line under the new company, until 2004, when she was sold to Strintzis Ferries, which had started operations in 2003 after having introduced the EPTANISOS on the Kyllini-Kefalonia line. In 2012, following the problems caused by the Greek financial crisis on the Greek coastal service, Strintzis Ferries were forced to abandon the Kyllini-Kefalonia line served by the KEFALONIA, instead maintaining the EPTANISOS on the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line until she herself was no longer able to keep the company profitable. In late 2012, Strintzis Ferries officially ceased operations, and ceded the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line to the Ionian Ferries joint venture (which was based in Zakynthos and which at the time included the traditional local companies Zante Ferries and Tyrogalas Ferries, each with two ships). The EPTANISOS and the KEFALONIA were laid-up in Drapetsona. While the former was believed to be reactivated within a short period of time due to her respectable age (23 at the time) and her recent service during the 2012 season, the latter was rumoured to have been sold for scrap, as she was 37 years old and she had not been operating since late 2011. Ultimately, shortly before the 2013 spring season was due to start, it was announced that the KEFALONIA was sold by Strintzis Ferries to the newly-established Greek company Kefalonian Lines, which was an entity owned by a group of Kefalonia-based businessmen under the leadership of the Lykoudis family which sought to operate the ship in Kefalonia. The news were met with much excitement from the Ionian Sea residents and passengers, as the legendary ferry was spared from going to the scrapyards. She was refitted in Piraeus, being renamed NISSOS KEFALONIA, and she resumed service on the Kyllini-Kefalonia line shortly before the start of the 2013 summer season. Her entry to service was very successful, and it also marked the return of significant competition on the Ionian Sea, as the Ionian Ferries joint venture (which had also seen the addition of the reactivated company ANEZ in early 2013) had been the sole operator from Kyllini. In the meantime, the EPTANISOS remained laid-up until 2015, when she was sold to Fast Ferries, becoming the FAST FERRIES ANDROS and being deployed on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line on the Cyclades. At the end of the 2013 season, Kefalonian Lines also began to deploy the NISSOS KEFALONIA on the Kyllini-Zakynthos line and on the Kyllini-Kefalonia-Ithaca line, thus further strengthening the competition against Ionian Ferries. In 2014, Kefalonian Lines continued its rise and changed the overall landscape of the Ionian Sea coastal service by chartering the conventional ferry ZAKYNTHOS I of ANEZ (which had departed the Ionian Ferries joint venture earlier that year). Anticipating a fierce competition on both the Kyllini-Zakynthos line and on the Kyllini-Kefalonia line, Ionian Ferries withdrew from the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line, thus leaving it without a ship for the entire year. By the end of the summer season, the NISSOS KEFALONIA and the ZAKYNTHOS I were operating against the IONIAN STAR and the IONIS of Tyrogalas Ferries , and the DIONISIOS SOLOMOS and the ANDREAS KALVOS of Zante Ferries. The NISSOS KEFALONIA seen undergoing her maneuvering procedure in Kyllini in 2014, during her second season under Kefalonian Lines. While the competition on the Ionian Sea was smooth thanks to all ferries being already established in the area for more than ten years, the end of the year 2014 would mark an unexpected introduction of a new company, which would eventually take over the market. Indeed, that was Levante Ferries, a company based in Zakynthos which was founded in 2012 by the shipowner Georgios Theodosis, which deployed the astonishing ferry FIOR DI LEVANTE , which was formerly known as the HYUNDAI SEOLBONG of the South Korean company Dong Yang Express Ferry Company. She had undergone a major conversion in China between 2012 and 2014, during which she was entirely remodeled, and her indoor areas made her a very luxurious and impressive day ferry. She began operations in late 2014 on the Kyllini-Zakynthos line, and she immediately made an impact due to her advantageous amenities in contrast to the ships owned by the other companies. Moreover, she was awarded the prize of 'The Best Ferry in the World' in 2015 by Shippax, which is a major ferry newspaper covering the industry worlwide. The amazing FIOR DI LEVANTE seen in Kyllini during the summer of 2016. The introduction of the FIOR DI LEVANTE had several major consequences on the Ionian Sea during the 2015 season. Indeed, Tyrogalas Ferries was forced to abandon the area, initially by deploying the IONIS on the Saronic Gulf (and eventually selling her to Leve Ferries a year later), and then by selling the IONIAN STAR to Levante Ferries. By acquiring the latter vessel (which was renamed MARE DI LEVANTE in 2016), Levante Ferries cemented their presence on the Ionian Sea and had abruptly removed a company that had been operating in the area since 1973. As Tyrogalas Ferries ceased to operate on the Ionian Sea (and eventually ceased to exist in 2016), the Ionian Ferries joint venture was discontinued. Zante Ferries, in the meantime, had sent the ANDREAS KALVOS to the Western Cyclades, where they had been operating their third ferry and flagship, namely the ADAMANTIOS KORAIS , since 2009. Only the DIONISIOS SOLOMOS was operating on the Ionian Sea, and without Tyrogalas Ferries, her owners seemed vulnerable against Levante Ferries and Kefalonian Lines. Eventually, the former decided to create a new joint venture called Ionian Group. It included both Levante Ferries and Zante Ferries, and the DIONISIOS SOLOMOS was sent to operate on the reactivated Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line for the rest of the summer. As a result, the new main competing forces on the Ionian Sea consisted of Ionian Group (with two ships from Levante Ferries and one ship from Zante Ferries) and Kefalonian Lines (with two ships). The upgraded ticket agencies in the port of Kyllini during the summer of 2016. These are the ones of the Ionian Group joint venture, which consisted of Levante Ferries and Zante Ferries. For the 2016 season, the former had notably chartered the high speed ferry SPEEDRUNNER III of Aegean Speed Lines , which was deployed on the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line. The ticket agencies of Kefalonian Lines in Kyllini seen in 2016. A post analysing the infrastructural changes in the port can be seen here . In the summer of 2016, Kefalonian Lines spent considerable money by renovating the ZAKYNTHOS I during her annual winter refit (despite the ship being 43 years old at the time), and decided that she would solely operate on the Kyllini-Zakynthos line, while the NISSOS KEFALONIA would serve the Kyllini-Kefalonia line. During that summer, there was a very fierce competition with Levante Ferries and Zante Ferries, which resulted in numerous price wars and heated confrontations, with Kefalonian Lines accusing the Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy of giving them inadequate timetables for their ships to operate. Additionally, the company announced that they had purchased a new ferry which would enter service in late 2016. However, nothing happened, with only the NISSOS KEFALONIA and the ZAKYNTHOS I sailing for Kefalonian Lines at the start of 2017. After another very intense summer season in 2017 (during which the DIONISIOS SOLOMOS underwent a conversion in order to be deployed on the Western Cyclades, with the ANDREAS KALVOS returning to the Ionian Sea after two years on the Aegean Sea), the two main operators continued to see their rivalry becoming more intense. In the meantime, Kefalonian Lines suffered a major disadvantage during that year. Indeed, having previously relied on KTEL buses (the main inter-city bus network in Greece) connecting Athens with Kefalonia, (while Ionian Group relied on KTEL buses connecting Athens with Zakynthos), the latter instead decided to operate according to the services of Ionian Group. This resulted in the company losing a considerable amount of passengers. They then decided to reactivate the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line in late 2017 (which had been discontinued since the end of the 2016 season, after the SPEEDRUNNER III returned to Aegean Speed Lines) by having the NISSOS KEFALONIA combine her services on the Kyllini-Kefalonia line with her formerly-acclaimed service. She was thus deployed on a rather odd itinerary, which consisted of the new Patras-Ithaca-Kefalonia-Kyllini line. The following year turned out to be one of the most eventful for all three operators. Indeed, at the start of 2018, while maintaining their services both from Kyllini and Patras, Kefalonian Lines announced that they had purchased the veteran ferry MYRTIDIOTISSA of Aqua Ferries, which had been operating on the Agios Konstantinos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos line on the Sporades since 2016. Built in 1975 in Japan just like the NISSOS KEFALONIA, she has been operating in Greece for 30 years. She was previously the well-known ANEMOS of the now-defunct company Nomicos Lines (1988-1999), then briefly the EXPRESS ANEMOS of Minoan Flying Dolphins (1999-2000), before having stints as the MYRTIDOTISSA under the now-defunct company ANEN Lines (2000-2010) and as the AQUA MARIA of the similarly-defunct company NEL Lines (2010-2016) before joining Aqua Ferries (which also ended-up ceasing operations after selling the ship to Kefalonian Lines). Despite the ship being already old and serving mostly as a night ferry, Kefalonian Lines decided to spend a considerable amount of money in order to refit her for service on both the Kyllini-Zakynthos line and the Kyllini-Kefalonia line as a day ferry. The ship was fully renovated in Drapetsona, being renamed ALEXANDRA L . Immediately after acquiring that ship, Kefalonian Lines also announced that they had bought the ANDREAS KALVOS from Zante Ferries. As a result, ahead of the 2018 summer season, Kefalonian Lines had a lineup of four ships (namely the NISSOS KEFALONIA, the ZAKYNTHOS I, the ANDREAS KALVOS and the ALEXANDRA L), which was twice the amount of ships owned by Levante Ferries (which still had the FIOR DI LEVANTE and the MARE DI LEVANTE at the time). However, while things looked promising, the events that followed throughout the rest of the year proved disastrous for the company, which resulted in them having no ships operating on the Ionian Sea. The ANDREAS KALVOS seen on the Ionian Sea during the summer of 2017. She had previously spent the summers of 2015 and of 2016 on the Western Cyclades, on the Piraeus-Kythnos-Serifos-Sifnos-Milos-Kimolos line, before she was replaced by the DIONISIOS SOLOMOS. Prior to the start of the 2018 summer season, she was supposedly bought by Kefalonian Lines, although this transaction eventually brought a lot of chaos to the Ionian Sea. The ALEXANDRA L seen on the Ionian Sea, heading from Zakynthos to Kyllini. A well-known ship in Greece which has been to almost all Aegean Sea ports, she made her debut on the Ionian Sea under Kefalonian Lines in 2018, although this first season eventually became her only one as her company decided to shut down operations later this year. The events preceding and following the 2018 summer season eventually brought considerable turmoil within Kefalonian Lines. Indeed, the ANDREAS KALVOS was supposed to have been delivered to the company, however Zante Ferries did not manage to hand over the ship in due time. There are allegations stating that Levante Ferries, the partner of Zante Ferries through Ionian Group, did not want the ship to depart the joint venture and join their main rivals. A sale of the ship to Kefalonian Lines would have required the banks regulating Zante Ferries and the joint venture to give their approval, but this did not happen as, in the long term, Levante Ferries wanted to buy the ship for themselves. As a result, the ANDREAS KALVOS remained with Zante Ferries during the summer of 2018. At the same time that Kefalonian Lines had reportedly announced that the ship would join them, the company suffered another major blow. Indeed, the ZAKYNTHOS I had a major engine failure and she was forced to head to Drapetsona so that she could be repaired. Eventually, the ship was left abandoned there, as the company preferred to invest on the conversion of the ALEXANDRA L. The latter began operations on the Kyllini-Zakynthos line and on the Kyllini-Kefalonia line, while the NISSOS KEFALONIA continued to serve the Patras-Ithaca-Kefalonia-Kyllini line. Eventually, the summer season saw both ships of Kefalonian Lines underperforming, while Levante Ferries, notably thanks to the partnerships with KTEL, had the upper hand. After the season ended, Kefalonian Lines continued to struggle economically. While the NISSOS KEFALONIA and the ALEXANDRA L were still operating, the ZAKYNTHOS I was still laid-up and not repaired, while there were also reports that the service on the Patras-Ithaca-Kefalonia-Kyllini line was unprofitable. Furthermore, no revenues were being made, and the company allegedly had significant amounts of debt, with them having failed to pay their crews and the required port fees for several months. Finally, just a few days ago, Kefalonian Lines announced their intentions to leave the Ionian Sea by selling their main ship, namely the legendary NISSOS KEFALONIA, to Levante Ferries. Their announcement was the following: 'Kefalonian Lines officially announce the end of their operations in Zakynthos and Kefalonia by deciding to deploy the ALEXANDRA L in another area of the Greek coastal service and by selling the NISSOS KEFALONIA to the fellow company Levante Ferries. The Company, having been impacted by long-standing and unprecedented-for the standards of the Greek coastal service-"persecution" by political and other entities, especially after 2015, reported, on the aforementioned services, significant economic losses, which no longer enables us to operate there. The economic losses became even more large during the past year, when we decided to serve the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line, which resulted in costs that exceeded €2.5 million. It is therefore our ethical obligation to hand over the service on the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line to Ionian Group. We want to thank all sailours and the people from the islands that we have been serving for their long-standing support of the Company, which will now be operating in other areas in our country. With best regards, Kefalonian Lines.' And thus, after more than five years of operations, Kefalonian Lines have decided to abandon the Ionian Sea. And as suggested by this announcement, it was the so-called 'persecution' of the company by various parties, most notably political entities (and specifically the Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy) which had an alleged bias towards their competitors, which supposedly is the reason behind their underperforming financial results in recent years. While they confirm their intentions to operate on the Aegean Sea with the ALEXANDRA L, this seems like a long shot. Indeed, the economic losses and their large amount of debt owed to their crews, the port authorities and the shipyards, will not guarantee any chance of survival on a similarly-demanding area. Besides, services on the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, the Northeast Aegean Sea, Crete and the Saronic Gulf are well covered. The only exception could be the Sporades, where the ALEXANDRA L used to operate, but that will also require significant operating costs. With the 45-year-old ZAKYNTHOS I laid-up and with no repaired engines, the ship is very likely to never operate for Kefalonian Lines again. The NISSOS KEFALONIA is set to join Levante Ferries in order to resume service on the Kyllini-Zakynthos line and on the Kyllini-Kefalonia line. Similarly, the ANDREAS KALVOS, which was supposed to join Kefalonian Lines, has now been sold to Levante Ferries as well. Indeed, the latter had successfully managed to block the sale to their rivals, and they now have the chance to operate her under their own terms. This means that Zante Ferries will also leave the Ionian Sea, as they no longer have a ship operating there. Instead, their two ships, namely the ADAMANTIOS KORAIS and the DIONISIOS SOLOMOS, continue to serve the Western Cyclades. Without Zante Ferries, Ionian Group will cease to exist as a joint venture. Furthermore, Levante Ferries is now set to be a monopoly on the Kyllini-Zakynthos line, on the Kyllini-Kefalonia line and on the Patras-Kefalonia-Ithaca line, while owning four ships. It is very astonishing to see that, at the start of the year, Kefalonian Lines were supposed to have four ships on the Ionian Sea, and now they are left with none. Instead, Levante Ferries is the one that has four ships, and now ready to take over the Ionian Sea for the next few years. From rivals to fleetmates: The FIOR DI LEVANTE and the NISSOS KEFALONIA are both seen in Kyllini in 2016, back when their companies engaged in a fierce competition on the Ionian Sea. The NISSOS KEFALONIA is now set to be painted in yellow, just like the FIOR DI LEVANTE. The FIOR DI LEVANTE and the NISSOS KEFALONIA seen in Kyllini during the summer of 2016. The two best ships of the Ionian Sea will now be operating under the same company, namely the fast-growing Levante Ferries. The ALEXANDRA L seen in Zakynthos during the summer of 2018. Her future is, yet again, uncertain. She is said to be returning to the Aegean Sea, although I have a feeling that it will not be under Kefalonian Lines, which are very likely to cease operations altogether. She could potentially be acquired by a company like Sea Jets, which does not mind investing in older ferries? The future will determine this, I guess. The ZAKYNTHOS I seen in Drapetsona during the summer of 2018. Just like the ALEXANDRA L, her future is very uncertain, especially considering her old age and the fact that she has not been repaired since suffering her engine failure. A return to ANEZ (which have been inactive since 2014) could be a possibility, but it is not guaranteed that she will operate again under them. Perhaps she could be sold for scrap? The future will probably determine this. The summer of 2019 on the Ionian Sea will be very interesting, although there will only be one operator, and also no joint venture for the first time since 1997. It is impressive to see that, in less than four years, Levante Ferries managed to remove all three major companies serving Zakynthos and Kefalonia, while also buying a ship from each one of them. Indeed, they purchased the IONIAN STAR from Tyrogalas Ferries, the ANDREAS KALVOS from Zante Ferries and the NISSOS KEFALONIA from Kefalonian Lines. The latter two are due to undergo their refits in order to make their debuts for their new owner in early 2019. Considering the fantastic job the company did when converting the FIOR DI LEVANTE, it is is certain that both ships will return fully-renovated and with significant upgrades in their indoor areas. It is not known whether they will be renamed. But what is certain is that, five years after saving the legendary KEFALONIA from going to the scrapyards (to the delight of the passengers of the Ionian Sea), Kefalonian Lines now belongs to history, with two veteran ferries having an uncertain future ahead of them. #nissoskefalonia #kefalonianlines #levanteferries #summer2018 #greece #ionian #kyllini #zakynthos #kefalonia #ithaca #patras #zakynthosi #alexandral #maredilevante #ioniangroup #ionis #ionianstar #tyrogalasferries #andreaskalvos #dionisiossolomos #adamantioskorais #zanteferries #anez #ionianferries #sale #inthenews

The SUPERRUNNER seen leaving the port of Rafina during the summer of 2018. The iconic SUPERFERRY II seen arriving in the port of Gavrion in Andros during the 2020 season. She had departed the port of Tinos and she was then due to head to Rafina. The high speed trimaran SUPERSPEED seen in Perama during the summer of 2019, after her season on the Cyclades was cut short because of a major engine failure. The SUPERCAT seen docked in Piraeus in 2019, during her first summer of operations under Golden Star Ferries. Just as the companies of the Greek coastal service have started to make preparations for the 2021 summer season, an unexpected transaction occurred between two main players of the Cyclades who happen to be fierce rivals for the past few years. And, for sure, such a transaction could not go unnoticed nor uncommented, as it is probably one of the most shocking ones that the Greek coastal service has seen in recent memory, perhaps to a much higher extent than the sale of the NISSOS KEFALONIA of Kefalonian Lines to Levante Ferries back in November 2018 . Indeed, it was announced that Golden Star Ferries, a company that had started operations on the Rafina-Cyclades service in 2011 and which had undergone a major growth in the past few years, had sold four of its six vessels to its main rival, namely Sea Jets. This sale consisted of one conventional ferry, namely the SUPERFERRY II (which had been the first vessel owned by Golden Star Ferries upon the start of their operations), and of three high speed craft. These are the high speed ferry SUPERRUNNER , the high speed trimaran SUPERSPEED and the high speed catamaran SUPERCAT . All of them had joined the company between late 2016 and early 2018, back when it underwent a major fleet expansion while also making a huge investment into high speed craft. With this sale, Golden Star Ferries is now left with two ships, namely the conventional ferry SUPERFERRY and the high speed ferry SUPEREXPRESS , which had started operations for the company in 2016 and in 2018, respectively. Sea Jets, on the contrary, continues its incredible growth, with its fleet continuing to increase exponentially. Indeed, with these four purchases, the company is due to have a total of 21 ships (if we include the RAPIDLINK JET which joined the company in late 2019 and which is due to begin her conversion for service in Greece soon), of which 17 are high speed craft. As a reminder, the company only had four ships back in 2012! Based on the given information on Greek coastal service forums, the SUPERRUNNER is due to join Sea Jets with immediate effect, while the SUPERSPEED and the SUPERCAT will join the company at some point during the summer (although they will most likely not be prepared for service under their new owner until 2022). The SUPERFERRY II will spend the 2021 season on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos line with Golden Star Ferries, while she is due to be delivered to Sea Jets in October 2021. The thought of seeing Golden Star Ferries abruptly ceding two-thirds of its fleet to its main rival would have been unimaginable even during the 2020 season, when the intense competition had eased down between the two companies, in contrast to the seasons prior. However, such an event altogether brings (at least for now) an end to a major saga of the Greek coastal service, as both privately-owned companies battled against each other on the Cyclades as well as in Crete, especially during the summers of 2018 and of 2019. As suggested by the transaction, one can easily believe that, in the end, Sea Jets, prevailed. However, my personal opinion is that this move will not necessarily mark the end of Golden Star Ferries, but, on the contrary, it suggests a shift into their competitive mindset, as they will learn from these intense seasons in order to better define their role within the Greek coastal service. This 'In The News' post aims to analyse how the events leading to the acquisition of these four ships by Sea Jets unfolded, and what will be their impact on the Cyclades, as well as on the Aegean Sea as whole. In order to provide you with a thorough analysis of this sale, it is essential to give the historical context of both companies and how they expanded their operations during the 2010s. Their backgrounds do have some similarities, considering that they are owned by traditional shipping families originating from the Cyclades, and with their managers having also owned and operated freight shipping companies. Indeed, Sea Jets is under the management of Marios Iliopoulos (who owns the tanker company Worldwide Green), whereas Golden Star Ferries was founded by the brothers Dimitris Stefanou and Georgios Stefanou (who own the tanker and dry bulk carrier company Bright Navigation). In addition, both companies began their operations by acquiring a ship from Blue Star Ferries. In the case of Golden Star Ferries, as stated previously, it was through the purchase of the SUPERFERRY II, which had been operating for Blue Star Ferries from its formation in 2000 until the end of the 2010 season. Sea Jets began operations in 2004 with the high speed catamaran JET ONE (previously the SEA JET 1 of Blue Star Ferries under the Blue Star Jets division) of Aegean Jet Maritime, which became the SUPER JET . That company had been under the management of Marios Iliopoulos, and it is considered the predecessor of Sea Jets. Another noteworthy fact is that the second ship of Sea Jets was also acquired from Blue Star Ferries, and this was none other than the sister ship and the former fleetmate of the SUPER JET, namely the SEA JET 2 (previously operating under the Blue Star Jets division of Blue Star Ferries), which joined the company in 2006. However, there are nevertheless some differences in how the two companies evolved based on their experience within the Greek coastal service. Indeed, the Iliopoulos family had already been involved with the passenger sector since 1989, when it was operating the company Ilio Lines, which operated several hydrofoils on the Cyclades and Crete, and later on the Saronic Gulf through the Saronic Dolphins brandname. They stopped activities in 2005, as Marios Iliopoulos had dedicated himself to Sea Jets. The Stefanou brothers, on the contrary, had their first taste of the Greek ferry market through Golden Star Ferries. Based in Andros, they bought the SUPERFERRY II, which had become an acclaimed ship on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line from the moment that she began her career in Greece in 1993, first with Strintzis Lines (1993-2000) and then under Blue Star Ferries (as the latter was formed in 2000, when Attica Group took over Strintzis Lines). However, as Blue Star Ferries continued to modernise its fleet (anticipating the arrivals of the newly-built sister ships BLUE STAR DELOS and BLUE STAR PATMOS in 2011 and in 2012, respectively), they decided that the 1974-built SUPERFERRY II would no longer be a part of their future plans. These views were all but confirmed after the ship collided with the main pier of the port of Tinos in 2010. However, Golden Star Ferries emerged, and they took advantage of the ship's fame on the Cyclades in order to keep her in Rafina. After undergoing a refit in Piraeus, the ship started service on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos line. At the same time, Sea Jets was operating on the Cyclades with the SUPER JET and the SEA JET 2, as well as with the high speed ferry MEGA JET , which they bought in 2008. That ship was operating on the Heraklion-Rethymnon-Santorini line during the 2011 season (where she first began operating in 2009), although her spell under Sea Jets has been noted for the numerous engine failures that she experienced. After a good first season for Golden Star Ferries, there were rumours that they would be acquiring a second ship, with reports stating that they had bought the conventional ferry EPTANISOS of Strintzis Ferries (which was a company created by the Strintzis family in 2003, after Strintzis Lines was taken over by Attica Group in order to become Blue Star Ferries back in 2000). However, these rumours eventually proved to be false, and Golden Star Ferries continued to solely operate the SUPERFERRY II for the time being. The 2012 season was essentially the starting point of both companies' expansion plans, even though Golden Star Ferries stayed with just one ferry until 2015. Indeed, that year, despite the Greek financial crisis reaching its peak and destabilising the Greek coastal service, the company continued to provide excellent service despite the strong competition provided by Blue Star Ferries, Hellenic Seaways, Agoudimos Lines and Fast Ferries in Rafina. The latter in particular made a key addition on the Rafina-Cyclades service. Indeed, inspired by the success of their flagship, namely the conventional ferry THEOLOGOS P , which had started operations on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line back in 2007, they decided to bring their other ship, namely the EKATERINI P (which had been operating on the Igoumenitsa-Corfu line on the Ionian Sea since 1999) as a second ferry in Rafina, after converting her in Perama. The introduction of the EKATERINI P proved to be a major success, and it now meant that Fast Ferries operated two ferries from Rafina, as opposed to the other companies that only had one ship there. At the time, Sea Jets was operating the SEA JET 2 on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros line, where she had been deployed since 2006. While they did not immediately consider expanding their services in Rafina, they nevertheless strengthened their fleet by buying a second high speed ferry, namely the SNAEFFEL of the Isle of Mann Steam Packet Company. The latter was renamed MASTER JET and she began service on the Heraklion-Rethymnon-Santorini line alongside the MEGA JET. With the results of the 2012 season deemed satisfactory by both companies, they both began a transition phase for 2013 and 2014. Indeed, Sea Jets strengthened its services in Rafina by having the SUPER JET deployed on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line, where she was extremely successful. The SEA JET 2 replaced her on the Piraeus-Milos-Folegandros-Santorini-Amorgos-Koufonisi-Naxos-Mykonos line. The continued good performances of the MASTER JET and of the MEGA JET on the Heraklion-Rethymnon-Santorini line combined with the successful deployment of the HIGHSPEED 5 of Hellenic Seaways on the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Paros-Mykonos line during the 2013 prompted Sea Jets to further consolidate its presence there. This happened in 2014, when the company deployed the large high speed ferry TERA JET (previously the SCORPIO of the Italian company Tirrenia Di Navigazione) on the Heraklion-Santorini line, while the MEGA JET expanded her service in order to operate on the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Mykonos line. The introduction of the TERA JET, which became the flagship of Sea Jets, proved to be a massive success. Indeed, the ship's large size and her impressive speed quickly made her one of the best high speed craft in Greece, and she proved to be a worthy competitor against the equally-successful HIGHSPEED 5. That same year, the MASTER JET was deployed on the Piraeus-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line, where she had a decent spell. The 2014 season was generally seen as a breakthrough year for Sea Jets, as the company continued to expand its fleet and services on the Cyclades, and was generating fair amounts of revenue despite the Greek financial crisis. As for Golden Star Ferries, the year 2014 proved to be eventful as they were due to acquire the Japanese-built ferry OSADO MARU of the Japanese company Sado Kisen. She was due to undergo a conversion in China before entering service as the company's second ferry in Rafina during the 2015 season. However, shortly after she was delivered to the company, the latter instead took notice of another ship owned by Sado Kisen, namely the younger ferry KOGANE MARU. As a result of this, they sold the OSADO MARU to the Indonesian company Sekawan Maju Sejahtera (where she now operates under the name SMS SAGITA) and bought the KOGANE MARU, which arrived in Greece during the summer of 2015, with an anticipated entry to service during the 2016 season. With the 2014 season ending on a successful note for Sea Jets and Golden Star Ferries, both companies turned their attention towards the summer of 2015. As stated above, Golden Star Ferries continued to successfully operate the SUPERFERRY II, while the KOGANE MARU arrived in Greece in June 2015, and immediately began her conversion in Perama. Sea Jets further asserted their plans to expand their fleet by buying two new high speed ferries in early 2015, namely the sister ships CONDOR VITESSE and CONDOR EXPRESS of the French company Condor Ferries, which were serving the Channel Islands. The two ships were renamed CHAMPION JET 1 and CHAMPION JET 2 , respectively. Their acquisition sparked much excitement and the company therefore was expected to further dominate on the Cyclades with two impressive new high speed ferries. Furthermore, Sea Jets had acquired the high speed ferry ÉMERAUDE FRANCE of the defunct French company Émeraude Ferries (which had been laid-up in Tilbury since 2007) and had planned to operate her in Rafina for the 2015. While the ship was renamed SEA SPEED JET, she never entered service for the company, instead being used as a relief ship and remaining laid-up in Chalkida, with her engines being used as spare parts in case one of the active ships of the company would have technical issues. While this purchase proved to be disappointing, Sea Jets however planned to bring another high speed ferry for service on the Cyclades in 2015. This was the CORSICA EXPRESS SECONDA of the French-Italian company Corsica Ferries-Sardinia Ferries, which was renamed PAROS JET and was sent for a conversion in Elefsina. As the 2015 season began, the CHAMPION JET 1 was the first one to begin service, being deployed on the Piraeus-Mykonos-Naxos-Santorini line, hence taking over the service of the MASTER JET, which was instead deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Koufonisi-Amorgos line. While the ship started off well, she then had an engine failure which impacted her services for the rest of the year, and she had several delayed and canceled trips, as well as a minor collision with the hydrofoil FLYING DOLPHIN ATHINA of Aegean Flying Dolphins (and coincidentally a ship once owned by the Iliopoulos family through Ilio Lines) in Piraeus. The CHAMPION JET 2 also entered service in July 2015, and she operated on the Piraeus-Mykonos-Naxos-Santorini line instead of the CHAMPION JET 1, which moved to a new service introduced by her company on the Western Cyclades, namely the Piraeus-Sifnos-Milos-Folegandros-Ios-Santorini line. The aforementioned problems of the ship led her company in making a few changes to its services. Indeed, when the PAROS JET was ready to enter service on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Koufonisi-Amorgos line, the MASTER JET was instead placed on the Piraeus-Sifnos-Milos-Folegandros-Ios-Santorini line, and the CHAMPION JET 1 was withdrawn from service. In spite of these problems, the company had a good season, with the SEA JET 2 and the SUPER JET continuing to have success in Piraeus and Rafina, respectively. The latter in particular had an excellent season. Similarly, the TERA JET, by now the company's flagship, operated successfully on the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Mykonos line, instead of the MEGA JET which was back on the Heraklion-Rethymnon-Santorini line. The CHAMPION JET 2 seen sailing on the Cyclades during the 2015 season, which was her first one under Sea Jets. That year, she had a successful summer on the Piraeus-Mykonos-Naxos-Santorini line. A view of the TERA JET as she is seen arriving in Santorini from Heraklion during the 2015 season. Despite her high operating costs due to her large size, the ship was a key contributor to the growth of Sea Jets during the mid 2010s, first in Heraklion and then in Rafina. With the entire Greek coastal service having experienced a very successful 2015 season marked by a return to profitability for many companies and a significant rise in passenger and tourist traffic in Greece, all main ferry operators began to set their sights towards the 2016 season. Most notably, the Rafina-Cyclades service saw an incredible rise in the number of ships due to operate during the season. While Blue Star Ferries left the area, Hellenic Seaways introduced the high speed ferry HELLENIC HIGHSPEED on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Ios-Santorini line. Fast Ferries was now operating three ships from Rafina, after having bought and deployed the FAST FERRIES ANDROS (previously the EPTANISOS of Strintzis Ferries) during the 2015 season. The latter and the THEOLOGOS P were to serve the traditional Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line, while the EKATERINI P, which had been operating there successfully since 2012, was inserted on a new service on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos line. Golden Star Ferries responded to this move by finally having two ships in Rafina, namely the SUPERFERRY II and the ex-KOGANE MARU, which was now ready to enter service as the SUPERFERRY following her successful conversion in Perama. She was deployed on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line, whereas the SUPERFERRY II saw her service being extended on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos-Paros line. Sea Jets also added a ferry in Rafina, after having been satisfied with the performances of the SUPER JET during the previous three seasons. They initially deployed the MASTER JET on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line, but they immediately replaced her with the PAROS JET, which went on to spend the rest of the summer there. In addition, the company placed the CHAMPION JET 1, now repaired and fully refurbished, on the Heraklion-Rethymnon-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Paros-Mykonos line, while the SUPER JET returned to the Western Cyclades after being placed on the Piraeus-Serifos-Sifnos-Milos-Kimolos-Folegandros-Sikinos-Ios-Santorini line, thereby complementing the service of the SEA JET 2 which was operating on the Piraeus-Serifos-Sifnos-Milos-Folegandros-Ios-Santorini-Amorgos-Koufonisi-Naxos-Mykonos line. Overall, the 2016 season was also deemed a huge success for all companies, with the services from Rafina to the Cyclades being particularly praised by passengers. The SUPERFERRY had an excellent first season and she was praised for her impressive passenger areas and her comfortable services. The SUPERFERRY II was a bit less successful in Naxos and Paros, but she still maintained services of high standard. The PAROS JET was also appreciated for her speedy services. Ultimately, this season would mark the start of a very fierce rivalry in between Golden Star Ferries and Sea Jets, as they would continue to expand their fleet and services, with a particular focus in Rafina. The goal of both companies was to become the most dominant operator there, as the competition was becoming more intense, and they also felt threatened by the presence of other companies on the Cyclades, including Fast Ferries in Rafina and Hellenic Seaways in Piraeus and Heraklion. To that end, both companies made several major moves ahead of the 2017 season. In the case of Golden Star Ferries, the company decided to further increase its fleet number and to acquire a high speed craft for the first time in its history. Indeed, in late 2016, it was announced that the high speed ferry SPEEDRUNNER IV of Aegean Speed Lines (which had been operating on the Cyclades since 2009) would join the company and become the third ship of Golden Star Ferries. She was renamed SUPERRUNNER and she was due to be deployed on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line. Her acquisition meant that Golden Star Ferries was able to serve more islands on the Cyclades, and they benefitted largely from the departure of the HELLENIC HIGHSPEED from Rafina, as the latter moved to the Piraeus-Sifnos-Ios-Santorini line in order to fill the void left by the HIGHSPEED 6 , which was sold in early 2017 to the Spanish company Naviera Armas. The successful service of the HELLENIC HIGHSPEED was not picked up by another ship of Hellenic Seaways, and therefore Golden Star Ferries had the opportunity to cement its presence in Rafina with the SUPERRUNNER and its two conventional ferries. The SUPERFERRY II was back in operation on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line, while the SUPERFERRY was deployed on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos line for her second season under her owners. In response to the introduction of the SUPERRUNNER, Sea Jets decided to enhance its services in Rafina by deploying two high speed ferries on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos line. These were the PAROS JET, which would be departing from Rafina in the afternoon, and most notably the TERA JET, which would leave Rafina in the morning around the same time as the SUPERRUNNER. When the 2017 summer season began, both companies performed intense marketing campaigns in order to promote their services, while the TERA JET and the SUPERRUNNER would often race against each other (up until reaching Naxos) in order to see which ship would dock first in each of the ports of the Cyclades. Due to the additional competition provided by the three conventional ferries of Fast Ferries, which sailed under lower fares, Sea Jets decided to lower the normally high passenger fares for its high speed craft in Rafina, with a ticket from Rafina to Tinos with the TERA JET costing as little as €15! Golden Star Ferries strongly objected to these changes and also went on to lower its fares for all of its ships. The summer was also marked by numerous confrontations between the Stefanou brothers and Marios Iliopoulos. Despite the tumultuous atmosphere caused by this intense competition, both companies had a hugely successful summer. The deployment of the TERA JET was seen as a massive success by passengers, while the SUPERRUNNER also had an excellent year. She was a major factor in Golden Star Ferries being bestowed the 'Passenger Line of the Year' award given by Lloyd's List Greek Shipping Awards for 2017. The SUPERRUNNER seen maneuvering in the port of Ios during the summer of 2017. This was her debut season under Golden Star Ferries, for whom she operated on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line. Her introduction to this service as the first high speed craft of the company proved to be a very successful move, as she contributed to the growth of Golden Star Ferries and its expansions to other destinations on the Cyclades. The CHAMPION JET 2 seen leaving the port of Ios during the 2017 season. This was her third season under Sea Jets, and her first summer of the Heraklion-Rethymnon-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Paros-Mykonos line, which she took over from her sister ship, the CHAMPION JET 1. The latter moved to the Piraeus-Mykonos-Naxos-Santorini line, where the CHAMPION JET 2 had spent her first two seasons in Greek waters. For the 2017 season, the CHAMPION JET 2 was the only ship of Sea Jets linking Heraklion with the Cyclades, as the TERA JET was operating in Rafina, while the MEGA JET was chartered to Atlântico Line in order to serve the Azores Archipelago during the summer season. She headed there along with the MASTER JET. Following yet another successful season and an ever-increasing rivalry, both Sea Jets and Golden Star Ferries began to prepare their plans for the 2018 season, which was due to experience yet another rise in passenger traffic on the Cyclades. After being satisfied with the successful operations of the SUPERRUNNER, Golden Star Ferries decided to make further investments in high speed craft, and to that end they purchased two passenger-only ships of that kind in late 2017 and early 2018. These new ships were the small high speed catamaran KAROLIN of the Estonian company Linda Line and the high speed trimaran KRILO ECLIPSE of the Croatian company Krilo Ferry. Both ships arrived in Greece during the winter in order to undergo their respective conversions that would enable them to operate on the Aegean Sea. The KAROLIN was renamed SUPERCAT , whereas the KRILO ECLIPE became the SUPERSPEED . In addition, in order to add further pressure to Sea Jets following the numerous clashes that they had with the company in Rafina, Golden Star Ferries decided to introduce a new very interesting service linking Rafina with Heraklion via the Cyclades. This consisted in having the SUPERFERRY and the SUPERFERRY II deployed on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Ios-Santorini-Heraklion line, with one ship departing from Rafina and the other one from Heraklion in the morning, before reaching the opposite final destination during the evening. This marked the first-ever connection of Rafina with Crete, and the move was made in order for Golden Star Ferries to take a part of the market share held by Sea Jets on the Heraklion-Cyclades service. Both companies also benefitted from the departure of Hellenic Seaways from the area, as the latter sold the HIGHSPEED 5 (which had been renamed HIGHSPEED 7 in 2016) to Minoan Lines. The ship remained on the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Paros-Mykonos line as the SANTORINI PALACE , but her new owners' lack of experience in this service enabled Sea Jets to introduce more accommodating schedules for passengers and to strengthen their commercial relationships with travel agencies on the Cyclades and in Crete. In response to the deployment of the two ships of Golden Star Ferries on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Ios-Santorini-Heraklion line, Sea Jets decided to add two ships on the Heraklion-Cyclades service. The first one was the CHAMPION JET 2, which had already been serving the Heraklion-Rethymnon-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Mykonos line since 2017, while the second one was the newly-refurbished MASTER JET, which was renamed CALDERA VISTA and was deployed on the Heraklion-Rethymnon-Santorini-Paros-Mykonos-Tinos-Syros line. In Rafina, the company once again had two ships, namely the TERA JET on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos line and a new introduction, the NAXOS JET (previously the CYCLADES EXPRESS of NEL Lines and a sister ship of the CALDERA VISTA and of the SEA SPEED JET), which was deployed on the Rafina-Andros-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos line. The PAROS JET was used a relief vessel for the company. In addition, Sea Jets also made investments in conventional ferries. This had started back in 2016, when they bought the laid-up ferry AQUA SPIRIT of NEL Lines and re-introduced her on her previous subsidised inter-Cyclades services. They then sold her in 2017 to the Canadian company BC Ferries, and they replaced her with the AQUA JEWEL of Alpha Ferries , which went on to be chartered to Atlântico Line in 2018 (and she was replaced on the inter-Cyclades lifeline by another high speed ferry acquired by the company in 2017, namely the ANDROS JET ). In 2018, they went on to deploy the veteran ferry AQUA BLUE (previously the IERAPETRA L of LANE Lines/LANE Sea Lines and then of ANEK Lines) on a lengthy service linking Thessaloniki with the Sporades, the Cyclades and Crete. That ship, which spent her debut season under Sea Jets on the Thessaloniki-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Andros-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Santorini-Heraklion line, was meant to add further competition to the services of the SUPERFERRY and of the SUPERFERRY II. With that introduction, Golden Star Ferries once again responded by expanding their rivalry with Sea Jets on the Sporades, thereby deploying the SUPERSPEED on the Thessaloniki-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos line for her debut season. The SUPERCAT was also supposed to be deployed on the Sporades, but her conversion did not finish in time for the summer season. The TERA JET seen docked in the port of Rafina during the 2018 season. This was her second season on the Rafina-Cyclades service, where she played an integral role for her company's growth. Her speed and her large size were key in assuring that Sea Jets would be the main operator on the Cyclades, despite the strong competition of Golden Star Ferries and Fast Ferries. A view of the high speed ferry NAXOS JET, which is seen leaving the port of Mykonos during her debut season under Sea Jets. She spent the summer of 2018 on the Rafina-Andros-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos line, being the second ship to link Rafina with the Cyclades, together with the TERA JET. The iconic SUPERFERRY II of Golden Star Ferries seen arriving in the port of Paros during the summer of 2018. This was her eighth season under her company, and her twenty-sixth consecutive summer on the Rafina-Cyclades service. That year, together with the SUPERFERRY, she served the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Ios-Santorini line, hence connecting Rafina with the Cyclades and Crete for the first time in her career. Her service there went well overall, although Golden Star Ferries did not meet the expected results in terms of passenger and freight traffic. The perfect illustration of the Sea Jets-Golden Star Ferries rivalry, as suggested by this picture. Indeed, here we see the TERA JET and the SUPERRUNNER racing against one another, in order to see which ship will be the first one to dock in the port of Paros. Both high speed ferries had left the port of Mykonos simultaneously, and aimed to dock as soon as possible, just before the competitor. I had covered that race back when I was in Paros during the summer of 2018, for which you can find the related Blog post here . Another view of the SUPERRUNNER and of the TERA JET racing against one another. Here, the high speed ferry of Golden Star Ferries had departed the port of Paros just before the flagship of Sea Jets, and both of them were heading towards the port of Naxos. For many Greek coastal service enthusiasts, their daily races reminded them of the famous confrontations of the iconic ferry NAÏAS II of Agapitos Lines and of the legendary PANAGIA TINOU of Ventouris Sea Lines during the early 1990s, when both ships would race along the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos line. As the 2018 season ended, most analysts were able to draw conclusions regarding the performances of the two companies. Overall, both of them were reasonably successful, but they did encounter some issues. Indeed, Sea Jets was praised for its new services, but many of its ships had engine failures. Moreover, the company was forced to cancel a few scheduled trips, and had the tendency to switch the ships that would perform a specific trip, sometimes with a late notice or even without warning passengers (although such actions frequently occurred during the summers of 2016 and of 2017 as well). The services of the AQUA BLUE were not particularly successful, and therefore the company did not repeat them in 2019. Nevertheless, the services of the TERA JET, the CHAMPION JET 1, the CHAMPION JET 2, the NAXOS JET and the SUPER JET were widely praised. In the case of Golden Star Ferries, while the SUPERRUNNER continued to be very successful, the SUPERFERRY and the SUPERFERRY II had encouraging performances but failed to offset Sea Jets on the Crete-Cyclades service. Moreover, the SUPERSPEED had an indifferent season on the Sporades, and therefore the company planned to have her on the Cyclades together with the SUPERCAT. The confrontation between the Stefanou brothers and Marios Iliopoulos continued, and both sides frequently argued over the legitimacy of their operations, with Golden Star Ferries accusing the Greek Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy of granting the services on the Cyclades based on the preferences of Sea Jets. The latter would criticise Golden Star Ferries for trying to imitate their business model through the deployment of high speed craft, and of using all means to have their services approved by the Ministry (with the brothers even performing a hunger strike in order to have the services of the SUPERFERRY and of the SUPERFERRY II approved!) and of tarnishing the reputation of Sea Jets. In the midst of all this chaos, the two companies prepared for the 2019 season by injecting new weapons on the Cyclades, either through new vessels or new services. At the end of the year, Sea Jets won the 'Passenger Line of the Year' award given by Lloyd's List Greek Shipping Awards for 2018, just a year after Golden Star Ferries had earned that same honour. In anticipation of the 2019 season, Golden Star Ferries acquired yet another high speed craft, this time in collaboration with Fast Ferries. This was the high speed ferry EXPRESS, owned by the Swedish company Gotlandsbåten and chartered in 2018 to the Spanish company Naviera Armas in 2018. The ship arrived in Greece as the GOLDEN EXPRESS, and she was due to operate on the Rafina-Syros-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Koufonisi-Amorgos line as a second high speed ferry for Golden Star Ferries. The company also introduced services from Piraeus for the first time, in order to compete against Sea Jets. They announced that the SUPERSPEED would operate on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Mykonos-Tinos-Andros-Rafina line, while the SUPERCAT would be deployed on the Piraeus-Sifnos-Milos-Folegandros-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Mykonos line. The SUPERRUNNER would remain on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line, whereas the SUPERFERRY and the SUPERFERRY II would continue their services from Rafina to the Cyclades and Crete, although Ios was removed from their itineraries. Sea Jets, on the other hand, made smart moves by having the SUPER JET and the SEA JET 2 operating together on Piraeus-Serifos-Sifnos-Milos-Folegandros-Ios-Santorini-Amorgos-Koufonisi-Naxos-Paros-Mykonos line, where one ship would perform the first leg in the morning and the return leg the following morning (and vice versa). That way, the ships would not need to serve that many islands during the day and return to Piraeus very late at night, and this therefore limited the chances of the two ships having technical issues. The operations previously covered by the SUPER JET were taken over by another new ship introduced by Sea Jets, namely the high speed catamaran SIFNOS JET , which was deployed on the Piraeus-Serifos-Sifnos-Milos-Kimolos-Folegandros-Thirassia-Santorini-Ios line. Additionally, the CHAMPION JET 2 and the CALDERA VISTA continued their successful services on the Crete-Cyclades service, with the latter in particular having an excellent season on the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Paros-Mykonos line. In Rafina, the company deployed the PAROS JET alongside the NAXOS JET, while also adding the AQUA BLUE as a third ship on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Ikaria-Samos line. The TERA JET, following two successful seasons in Rafina, moved to Piraeus in order to begin a new service on the Piraeus-Paros-Ios-Santorini line. However, the most important event of the year was the introduction of a new extremely fast high speed ferry, namely the WORLDCHAMPION JET , which had arrived in Greece after being acquired by Sea Jets in late 2018. Built in 2000 and previously the VILLUM CLAUSEN of the Danish company Bornholmer Færgen, she used to be the fastest passenger ship in the world, and held the record for the fastest speed ever recorded by a ferry from 2000 until 2013. Upon starting operations on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Naxos-Santorini line (thereby replacing the CHAMPION JET 1 which spent the 2019 season under charter to Naviera Armas), she became the fastest ship in the Greek coastal service, and her service was a massive success. She remains to date the best ship of Sea Jets, and a major reason behind the company's good performances on the Central Cyclades. Overall, Sea Jets had an excellent season, with much less technical troubles (except for the ANDROS JET, the SIFNOS JET and the CHAMPION JET 2). They were further rewarded when the WORLDCHAMPION JET was bestowed the 'Ship of the Year' award given by Lloyd's List Greek Shipping Awards for 2019, hence becoming the third ship in the history of the Greek coastal service to win the prize. Golden Star Ferries, on the other hand, had a very underwhelming season despite the very high expectations. Having gone from one ship in 2015 to six in 2019, many waited for them to even overtake operators such as Blue Star Ferries and Hellenic Seaways. However, all of its ships had technical issues. In particular, the SUPERSPEED and the SUPERCAT struggled with their engines in the early part of the season. As they were unable to perform their itineraries in time, Sifnos was dropped from the services of the SUPERCAT, as was Andros in the case of the SUPERSPEED. As the latter continued to experience several problems, it was decided that she would be switching her services with those of the GOLDEN EXPRESS. The latter had, by that time, been fully taken over by Golden Star Ferries following a dispute with Fast Ferries, and she was renamed SUPEREXPRESS . She was deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Mykonos-Tinos-Andros-Rafina line, while the SUPERSPEED moved to the Rafina-Syros-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Koufonisi-Amorgos line. Despite these changes, the ships continued to experience severe technical issues and delayed trips. Ultimately, the SUPERSPEED had a major engine failure in Naxos in late July, and it was announced that her season would end without having a ship replacing her. The SUPERCAT also had some canceled trips, while the SUPEREXPRESS also struggled to make her itineraries in time, despite being praised for her impressive amenities and for the overall quality of her interior design. Only the three original ships of Golden Star Ferries had a decent season, but even the SUPERFERRY and the SUPERFERRY II failed to cement the company's presence in Crete, as they had originally hoped. The CALDERA VISTA, previously known as the MASTER JET, seen leaving Santorini in order to head to Ios during the summer of 2019. This was her second season under her new name, and many have considered it to be her best summer in Greece in terms of performance. Indeed, she managed to maintain the dominance of Sea Jets on the Crete-Cyclades service, even going on to have more passengers than the SANTORINI PALACE of Minoan Lines, which had been the best ship in the area since 2013. The SUPERCAT of Golden Star Ferries seen during her debut season under her owners, as she heads from Naxos to Ios in 2019. Brought by Golden Star Ferries in order to compete against the passenger-only catamarans of Sea Jets, she had a very inconsistent year, as she had many engine failures that prevented her from reaching her full potential as a high speed craft. A view of the WORLDCHAMPION JET, which was a main factor behind the successful season of Sea Jets in 2019. In her first summer under her new owner, she immediately made an impact on the Cyclades, and she was praised for her speed and her impressive indoor areas. She most notably features an original Formula 1 race-car manufactured by Minardi and driven by the now-retired Dutch driver Jos Verstappen during the 2003-2004 Formula 1 season onboard her atrium area. Golden Star Ferries and other companies were unable to compete against her due to her superior technical characteristics. The SUPEREXPRESS seen in the port of Piraeus at dawn during the summer of 2019. This was her first season under Golden Star Ferries, and she became the sixth ship and fourth high speed craft to operate for the company. Initially due to operate in Rafina, she was instead deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Mykonos-Tinos-Andros-Rafina line. Her first season was marred by engine troubles, but she was nevertheless praised for her impressive amenities and her refurbished indoor areas. The PAROS JET seen leaving the port of Rafina during the 2019 season. She had returned on a full-time basis on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos line, where she had also operated during the 2017 season. In addition, she was the first high speed ferry of Sea Jets to operate in Rafina, back when she served the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line in 2016. During the 2019 season, she operated alongside the NAXOS JET, while the TERA JET was moved to the Piraeus-Paros-Ios-Santorini line. A view of two competing ferries departing the port of Rafina at the same time during the summer of 2019. These were the SUPERFERRY and the AQUA BLUE, and both were due to head to Andros, Tinos and Mykonos, before heading towards different directions. The SUPERFERRY was operating on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Santorini-Heraklion line, while the AQUA BLUE was spending her debut season on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Ikaria-Samos line. She therefore became the third ship of Sea Jets to operate in Rafina, and the only conventional ferry of the company to do so. The SUPERFERRY was again operating alongside the SUPERFERRY II, while Golden Star Ferries continued to have three ships in Rafina, as the SUPERRUNNER was operating on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line for the third summer in a row. Following a tumultuous 2019 season, Golden Star Ferries sought to have a redemption season in 2020, while Sea Jets continued to make new acquisitions and to enter new areas of service. This was seen when the AQUA JEWEL was introduced on the Piraeus-Gytheion-Kythira-Antikythira-Kissamos lifeline, while the AQUA BLUE was given the subsidy contract on the Lavrion-Chios-Agios Efstratios-Limnos-Kavala lifeline on the Northeast Aegean Sea. However, the 2020 season proved to be a major disappointment for the Greek coastal service, as the tourist season was heavily impacted by the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. As such, many ships did not operate, including the high speed craft of Golden Star Ferries. The latter only had the SUPERFERRY back on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line and the SUPERFERRY II on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros line. Therefore, the company completely abandoned its services to Crete. They hoped for a return to normal conditions in 2021, and were planning to have the SUPEREXPRESS operating from Rafina, while the SUPERRUNNER would be sent to the Heraklion-Santorini-Naxos-Mykonos line in order to once again compete against Sea Jets and Minoan Lines. Furthermore, the company considered operating the SUPERSPEED and the SUPERCAT together on the Piraeus-Sifnos-Milos-Folegandros-Santorini-Ios-Paros-Mykonos-Syros line, using the same operating pattern as the one used by Sea Jets with the SEA JET 2 and the SUPER JET. However, these plans were canceled as Golden Star Ferries ultimately decided to proceed with the sale of four of its ships to Sea Jets. As a result of this, they will be left with only two ships, namely the SUPERFERRY and the SUPEREXPRESS. The decision of Golden Star Ferries to sell two-thirds of its fleet to a rival operator was viewed as a shock for many people that follow the news of the Greek coastal service. At the same time, if we look at the way in which the two companies grew during the 2010s and the extent to which the desperately tried to outperform each other, such a move was perhaps due to happen. On paper, it is suggested that Sea Jets won the battle, as they are now ready to further expand their operation on the Cyclades, now that they have four more ships joining their fleet, including three high speed craft. In addition, they are acquiring a legendary ship, namely the SUPERFERRY II, which has been a major key to the success of all her previous owners ever since she arrived in Greece. To that end, she will be a fine addition to the company, which had notably started buying more conventional ferries in order to deploy on various lifelines and other prominent services (on another note, they are considering to buy a new ferry that would enter service on the Sporades). Moreover, the acquisition of these four vessels means that Sea Jets will no longer need to worry about the presence of Golden Star Ferries on the Piraeus-Cyclades service and on the Crete-Cyclades service, meaning that they will have more flexibility to perform their itineraries at feasible timetables without any serious competition. It remains to be seen, however, how the company will operate in Rafina, as Golden Star Ferries will keep its two remaining ferries there. So far, Sea Jets has not announced any planned itineraries on the Rafina-Cyclades service, and it will be interesting to see whether they will be deploying one of their four new ships there, against the company that used to own them. Moreover, consider that the competition from Rafina will remain prominent, as Fast Ferries continues to thrive with its three conventional ferries, and they are due to deploy the EKATERINI P on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos-Koufonisi line, which will be a new service for the ship following a two-year absence (she missed the 2019 season due to a serious engine failure, and she was only repaired during the 2020 season), while Hellenic Seaways plans to deploy the high speed catamaran FLYINGCAT 3 on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos line. From the perspective of Golden Star Ferries, one may suggest that ceding four of their ships means that they have signaled their intent to capitulate against their main rivals. There are even rumours suggesting that they aim to leave the Greek coastal service altogether, as the Stefanou brothers have been frustrated by the past few seasons and the alleged bias regarding the services of Sea Jets. I personally do not believe that this is the case, otherwise they would have also found a way to also get rid of the SUPERFERRY and of the SUPEREXPRESS. Considering the incredible amenities of both ships and the affordability of second-hand ferries under the current market conditions, they would not have hesitated to give away these vessels, yet they still plans on deploying them on the Cyclades for the 2021 season. On the contrary, I believe that they took the decision to sell their four vessels in order to free themselves from any financial liabilities that they had (as the company began to have financial issues in 2020), and their inexperience in operating high speed craft proved to be a major hurdle during the 2019 season, as most of the ships were under poor technical conditions. To be fair, even before they joined Golden Star Ferries, the three high speed craft that arrived between 2017 and 2019 all had a history of mechanical troubles. Indeed, the SUPERCAT had several engine failures back when she was operating on the Tallinn-Helsinki line under Linda Line, while the SUPERSPEED had an indifferent spell on the Tsushima Strait as the ULSAN DOLPHIN of of the South Korean company Ferry Ulsan, although she did have a rather good spell during her lone season on the Adriatic Sea as the KRILO ECLIPSE of Krilo Ferry. The SUPEREXPRESS, on the other hand, has had a very inconsistent career, as she encountered many engine failures during her spell with P&O Ferries, while she operated for three different companies in as many seasons prior to joining Golden Star Ferries. As such, one may suggest that the company did not make good choices, and they rather tried to get whichever high speed craft was available in order to desperately outperform Sea Jets on the Cyclades. However, the latter has been an established operator of high speed craft ever since they began operations in 2004, and, despite their flaws, they have continued to grow at an impressive pace over the past decade. As such, one may think that the competition was lost from the start, however Golden Star Ferries did encounter much success with the SUPERRUNNER, which was the only high speed craft of the company that performed very well and that was rarely affected by engine troubles. Therefore, it is rather odd for that specific ship to leave the company, unless the fee proposed by Sea Jets was deemed very satisfactory by Golden Star Ferries. Overall, the latter simply seems to be taking steps backwards in order to clear themselves of all liabilities (both financial and technical, as most of the high speed craft that they owned caused the company many problems during the summer of 2019) and to reassert their strategy on the Aegean Sea. That is, they will most likely only focus on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line where they have been a household name ever since beginning their operations there in 2011, and they will no longer have to make any desperate moves such as employing two ferries from Rafina to Crete, where they unable to outperform Sea Jets. Finally, they also have the chance to renew their fleet with the departure of the SUPERFERRY II, which, despite her status as an iconic ship of the Greek costal service, is nevertheless 47 years old, hence her maintenance costs will continue to increase as she becomes even older. Therefore, the company is able keep two ships that have incredible indoor areas, with the SUPERFERRY having been an established ship on the Cyclades since her introduction to service in 2016, while the SUPEREXPRESS can easily be one of the best high speed ferries of Greece if her engines are properly maintained. Even though they are losing two ships that played an important role for the company (the SUPERFERRY II and the SUPERRUNNER), Golden Star Ferries could potentially fully dedicate themselves to the Rafina-Cyclades service with two ships, and potentially seek to buy a new conventional ferry in the future, depending on the ferry market conditions. A view of the SUPERFERRY as she is seen leaving the port of Gavrion in Andros in order to head towards Tinos during the summer of 2020. As things stand, she will be the only conventional ferry of Golden Star Ferries, as the SUPERFERRY II is due to join Sea Jets. She will therefore continue to have a major role for her company on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line, while the SUPEREXPRESS will join her in order to perform seasonal services on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos-Paros-Ios-Santorini line. Based on the information that I have, the four ships are due to be delivered to Sea Jets at regular intervals over the next few months. Indeed, the SUPERRUNNER is due to be delivered in May in order to begin service for the company during the 2021 summer season. The SUPERSPEED and the SUPERCAT are planned for delivery at some point during August, while the SUPERFERRY II is due to be delivered after completing the summer season with Golden Star Ferries, meaning that this will probably happen at some point during the fall (between late October to early November). As part of her last season under Golden Star Ferries, the ship will serve the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos-Paros line, hence returning there for the first time since 2016. The SUPERFERRY will remain on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos line, while the SUPEREXPRESS will begin operations on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos-Paros-Ios-Santorini line, hence taking over the service left by the SUPERRUNNER. As the SUPERSPEED and the SUPERCAT are joining Sea Jets during the summer, that means that they will not be operating for the second season in a row. Therefore, they are most likely due to begin operations for Sea Jets in 2022, assuming that they have no technical deficiencies. It will be interesting to see where Sea Jets plans to deploy them, considering that they already have three established passenger-only high speed craft on the Cyclades. The SUPERFERRY II seen maneuvering in Andros during the summer of 2020. As it appears, this upcoming season will be her final one under Golden Star Ferries. She will therefore leave the company after 10 years, having been their first-ever ship and the reason behind their growth. I do hope that Sea Jets will continue to operate her on the Rafina-Cyclades service, where she has been such an acclaimed ship since 1993. The SUPEREXPRESS seen docked in Piraeus in 2020. After a challenging start to her career in Greece, she is now ready to have a more prominent role for Golden Star Ferries, as she is due to operate on their popular service on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos-Paros-Ios-Santorini line. She is therefore the official successor of the successful SUPERRUNNER, which will now be a part of the fleet of Sea Jets. If she has no technical issues, the SUPEREXPRESS can easily become a vital weapon for her company, as her size, passenger capacity and indoor areas give her many advantages compared to other Greek high speed craft. The TERA JET seen racing against the SUPERRUNNER in Paros during the 2018 season. After having been fierce rivals for two seasons, the two high speed ferries will now be fleetmates, as both of them are now under the ownership of Sea Jets. Who would have thought that this event would happen three years ago? The SUPERRUNNER seen in Piraeus during the summer of 2020, which eventually proved to be her final one under the livery of Golden Star Ferries. Indeed, she will now undergo all necessary preparations in order to begin service for her new owners. Sea Jets will be the third Greek company for which the ship will operate, after having served Aegean Speed Lines from 2009 to 2016, and Golden Star Ferries from 2017 to 2021. According to the rumours that have been circulating across Greek coastal service platforms, the SUPERRUNNER will likely be renamed SUPERRUNNER JET . She is also rumoured to be deployed outside of the Cyclades for the first time in her career, as it is suggested that she will enter a new subsidised service introduced by her company on the Sporades, on the Thessaloniki-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Mantoudi line. She will therefore link Thessaloniki with the Sporades and Evoia. If such a move is to occur, then we will undoubtedly talk about Sea Jets becoming one of the two main protagonists of the Greek coastal service alongside Attica Group. Indeed, they have gone from a fleet of just three vessels in 2011 to a fleet of 20 ships just ten years later (with that number reaching 21 vessels once the SUPERFERRY II is delivered to the company later in the year). This includes 18 high speed craft and two conventional ferries (which will become three with the addition of the SUPERFERRY II). Following this transaction, the company now has the largest fleet in Greece, surpassing that of Hellenic Seaways. Moreover, it continues its expansion across the Aegean Sea, going beyond the Cyclades as it will now serve the Sporades (where it aims to establish itself with the rumoured purchase of a conventional ferry), in addition to serving the Northeast Aegean Sea and the Kythira-Antikythira lifeline. With three new high speed craft and one new conventional ferry, the company clearly has the ambition to further assert its dominance, and its large fleet size gives it the flexibility to operate all vessels respective to the demand and the passenger traffic numbers of each service they already operate it, or new ones that they plan on introducing in the future. In any case, this transaction has been one of the most defining moments of the Greek coastal service in recent years, and I am certain that its effects will last for quite some time, as I believe that the battle between Sea Jets and Golden Star Ferries is far from over. The former continues its remarkable growth, while the latter takes the time to redesign its strategy in order to have a stronger presence on the ever-growing Rafina-Cyclades service. It will be very interesting to see how things will evolve and how Sea Jets is going to utilise its four new ships, including two that have experienced mediocre results on the Aegean Sea. They do, however, acquire an excellent high speed ferry and a legendary ferry which, despite nearing half-a-century of service, remains a valuable asset for any company operating on the Cyclades. #superrunner #superferryii #superspeed #supercat #goldenstarferries #seajets #summer2021 #greece #aegean #cyclades #crete #rafina #andros #tinos #mykonos #paros #naxos #ios #santorini #heraklion #superferry #superexpress #superjet #seajet2 #megajet #masterjet #calderavista #terajet #championjet1 #championjet2 #seaspeedjet #parosjet #naxosjet #androsjet #sifnosjet #worldchampionjet #rapidlinkjet #aquajewel #aquablue #seajetsferries #theologosp #ekaterinip #fastferriesandros #fastferries #bluestardelos #bluestarpatmos #bluestarferries #highspeed5 #highspeed7 #hellenichighspeed #flyingcat3 #hellenicseaways #sale #inthenews