SUPERFAST IV (ΣΟΥΠΕΡΦΑΣΤ ΙV)
-Superfast Ferries
ex-HELLENIC SPIRIT (ΕΛΛΕΝΙΚ ΣΠΙΡΙΤ) of ANEK Lines (2001-2025)
Built in 2001 (age 24). Registered in Chania. Current line: Patras-Igoumenitsa-Ancona
The cruiseferry SUPERFAST IV was one of two sister ships originally ordered by ANEK Lines in 1998. They were initially named KRITI III and KRITI IV respectively, but their names were changed to OLYMPIC CHAMPION and OLYMPIC SPIRIT respectively prior to their launching. The former was completed in 2000 while the latter was ultimately renamed HELLENIC SPIRIT and was completed in 2001 in Norway. She was introduced on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Ancona line on the Adriatic Sea, where she joined her sister ship, and she remained in this service for the whole duration of her career under ANEK Lines. In 2024, after the latter was taken over by Attica Group, the ship was transferred to Superfast Ferries in 2025, and she was renamed SUPERFAST IV following a lengthy refit in Elefsina (thus following her sister ship, which had joined the same company in 2024 as the SUPERFAST III). She therefore became the second ship in the history of the company to have that name (after the original SUPERFAST IV, which is currently the SPIRIT OF TASMANIA I of the Australian company TT-Line Company Pty Ltd). During her refit, she was also equipped with an exhaust gas cleaning system. She remained in service on the Patras-Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Ancona line.
PHOTOS (2024):
The HELLENIC SPIRIT seen in the new port of Patras. This proved to be my first and only picture of the ship under that name and under ANEK Lines, as she joined Superfast Ferries in 2025, for whom she began service as the SUPERFAST IV (4/2024).