TERA JET (ΤΕΡΑ ΤΖΕΤ)

-Sea Jets

Built in 1999 (age 25). Registered in Limassol. Current line: None (under refit in Piraeus)

 

The TERA JET, which is today the biggest high speed craft in Greece, was built in 1999 in Italy, as the SCORPIO for the Italian company Tirrenia Di Navigazione. She was the third ship of a high speed class ordered by her company (her sister ships, the TAURUS and the ARIES were built in 1998, and she was followed in late 1999 by the CAPRICORN). She was deployed on the Genoa-Porto Torres-Olbia line, and in 2001 she operated on the Civitavecchia-Olbia line. Though her service was initially successful, it soon began to experience a decline due to the high costs of fuel oil, which combined negatively with Tirrenia's financial difficulties. She was laid-up with her sister ships in 2004, but she was the only one to return to service, being chartered to the Italian company Siremar in 2005. Under the latter, she was deployed on the Naples-Stromboli-Ginostra-Panarea-Rinella-Santa Marina Salina-Lipari-Vulcano-Milazzo line on the Tyrrhenian Sea. From 2006 to 2008 she was again laid-up, before she was chartered to Corsica Ferries for the summer of 2008, being deployed on the Livorno-Golfo Aranci line. After the charter she was laid-up in Arbatax and Cagliari for the next three years, and it was announced in 2011 that she had been sold for scrap along with the other high speed craft of her company. She and the CAPRICORN were the only ones that did not depart for Turkey, instead waiting in Italy for a new buyer. She was towed to Perama under the name RONKE, with that name later becoming SEA BREEZE III. She was laid-up for two years in Perama before being sold to the Greek company Sea Jets. She was fully renovated and was renamed TERA JET. The ship was then deployed on the Heraklion-Santorini line for the summer of 2014, and her service there was extremely successful, as she was engaged in a strong competition against Hellenic Seaways and the HIGHSPEED 5 (later the HIGHSPEED 7, now the SANTORINI PALACE of Minoan Lines). She therefore replaced the MEGA JET as the company's flagship, and in 2015 her service to Santorini was extended to Ios, Naxos and Mykonos, thus operating on the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Mykonos line. After the summer of 2015, the ship was deployed on the Piraeus-Chios-Mytilene line to help transport the Syrian refugees from the Northeast Aegean Sea Islands to Athens. In 2017, she and her current Sea Jets and former Corsica Ferries fleetmate PAROS JET were deployed on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos line. Her operations there turned out to be a massive success, despite the strong competition her company faced on the latter line. She returned the following season on the same line, although Andros was added to her itinerary, thus operating on the Rafina-Andros-Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos line. In 2019 she was deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Ios-Santorini line. After two years without sailing, she resumed service in 2022, being inserted on the Piraeus-Serifos-Sifnos-Milos line. 

 

PHOTOS (2015, 2018, 2019, 2021):