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Monday, February 7th, 2022

 

Another interesting week has passed, let's take a look at the highlights:

 

- Following up from last week's piece and while we're not any wiser about the overall details in the Attica-ANEK saga, the information about the Asterion II seems to be converging at the point where a banner "operated by Superfast Ferries" or something to this effect will be painted on the hull of the ship. This suggests at the very least that the charter of the ship has been taken over by Attica or it could well be that Attica have also taken over the crewing management of the ship. What's even more interesting to know, would be whether this takeover is being done out of necessity(ie the terms of the charter with ANEK are prohibitive in terms of early redelivery of the ship to her owners) or because Attica genuinely believe her to be a good ship. My take here is that they indeed consider her to be a success in the Venice route, let's not forget she stood her ground against Grimaldi's Corfu in the single season she was lined up against the Asterion II. At the same time though, they'd better be certain she can meet certain standards in terms of service and reliability of timetables, when she is associated with the most luxurious Adriatic brand name of the last 30 years.

 

- Sailed on the Theologos P last week, her having just come out of her annual refit. Her Friday's 1730hrs sailing to Andros, Tinos and Mykonos took place with a 30-minute delay caused by the increased vehicle and lorry traffic. In the end she even had to leave 5 lorries behind and perform an uneventful crossing carrying in the region of 600 passengers on board. Considering we're in early February, these are numbers which are very impressive, aided by the weekend of good weather which was lying ahead. The ship is up to her usual very good standards. Nothing impressive, yet very much adequate for the use she's intended for. The consistency she's built over the last 15 years is remarkable, as is the vote of confidence from the passenger public.

 

- Plenty of discussion also this past week around the delays taking place in the Adriatic both from Grimaldi Lines and from ANEK/Superfast, the former though being the champion by a country mile. You may remember me nagging about this in the past, for me it's just inconceivable how and why they cannot or perhaps they won't offer realistic timetables. This past week has been particularly horrific with 8 and 12-hour delays taking place, with both the Zeus Palace and Hellenic Spirit ending up switching off their AIS transmitters, aiming at avoiding our criticism, I should think. The general consensus seems to be that the sailings are published having been estimated using a certain speed while in practice the ferries are being sailed in even lower revs in an attempt to save on fuel. Regardless of the consequences in their schedules. Whether in certain cases there are also engine issues which are being hidden under the carpet, is anyone's guess. From the moment neither the companies, nor the Coast Guard are communicating anything about this situation, one is entitled to his own opinion. Disgraceful situation if you ask me...

 

- The Superstar, former Superferry II, is due to enter service for Seajets tonight, replacing the Aqua Blue on 3 sailings per week from Lavrion to Agios Efstratios, Lemnos and Kavala. The news here is that the small cinema she had plus some space from the adjacent lounge of air type seats were used in order to add a total of 9 cabins of 4-berths each. This is done in order for the SuperStar to be able to comply with the relevant minimum requirement of State tenders for a variety of subsidised lines.

 

- After many years of good service in the Saronic islands, small ferry Agios Nektarios Aeginas is now headed to Mandoudhi, on Evia Island from where this summer she will be sailing to Alonisos, Skopelos and Skiathos. Things are hotting up in the Sporades routes for the coming summer, let's not forget that the Aqua Star is a new addition in that part of the Aegean. Speaking of the latter, she's receiving plenty of TLC from Seajets these days on drydock. A bullbous bow is being fitted for one, while a permanent semi-deck is also being added to the bow part of the garage, aimed at increasing the carrying capacity of the ship in terms of private cars.

 

- Plenty of discussion this past week about the possible purchase of the japanese ferry Silver Queen by Greek interests. The latest development seems to be that the ship is confirmed sold to the breakers by some websites. They think it's all over. Well, is it now?

 

- Last but not least, how about some vintage tonnage from our gallery? The Startrailer is a favourite of mine, here is the Aegean Pearl, the Express Haroula in Sporades Ferries' colours, the Lemnos and the very rare Agios Dionissios S. If you're into some more modern stuff, here is the Blue Carrier 1.

 

Kind regards,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Friday, February 25th, 2022

 

Been a rather long 2 weeks since the last commentary. Unfortunately I have to work in order to live:D and also the corona virus crossed my doorstep. But things are looking up so let's have a look at the developments in Greece.

 

- It goes without saying that the catastrophe on the Euroferry Olympia is the biggest headline in Greece, bar the war in the Ukraine. You have probably read a whole lot about the details so I won't bore you with that. I won't speculate either about who is at fault here and whether Grimaldi have dealt with this the right way, this is for the experts to determine and anything else is pure propaganda either for or against them. What I will say is that for me there is a whole bigger picture here. Now try and think how many similar incidents we have seen over the last 10-15 years. And when I say similar incidents I mean fires on board ships with open-type garages, either fully(Euroferry Olympia) or partially(Norman Atlantic). I'm pretty sure you can think of several incidents, only in Greece over the last decade or so we had a good 4 fires like that.

 

When you sit next to the same girl when you go to your lecture theatre at university, it's no coincidence, you probably fancy her. Well guess what, when you have so many incidents of the same nature, it's not a coincidence either. And the coincidence does not stop with the re-occurence of the event, it goes on to the end result. And the end result is that in the vast majority of the cases the fires are too strong to be dealt with by the crew and the ships end up a total loss, with or without loss of life. Now this bigger picture if you ask me is not acceptable. Fire is indeed the biggest peril of the sea that a ship can probably face, at the same time it cannot be that on ferries and roros with the above mentioned configuration, never is a crew able to extinguish the fire on time. And obviously this is not happening due to lack of will.

 

In my mind there is a clear safety gap here, a massive one. Which puts people's lives in danger on an everyday basis. And unfortunately I don't see anyone moving a finger about this so far. There needs to be some urgent inquests here not only about the fire-fighting equipment and practices on board but also about the configuration of these ships and what types of cargo they are allowed to carry and under which conditions. It's crystal clear to me that the loss of the Euroferry Olympia will definitely not be the last we'll experience. And the reason for the next disaster won't be me just jinxing it.

 

- On more positive news, Golden Star Ferries are back with a vengeance. And to prove this they have gone ahead to purchase a Japanese ship(Silver Queen) with great characteristics and potential to become a small jewel in the Cyclades, their track record of the conversion of the Superferry points to that direction. It's too early to start speculating about what will exactly take place at the conversion stage and it doesn't really matter. What matters is that a quality ferry operator shows confidence in the market and together with Fast Ferries are breath of fresh air amongst the suffocating grasp of Attica's monopoly.

 

- Speaking of the devil, I'm hearing there's plenty of problems to go around with Attica's first catamaran newbuilding, the Aero 1. Delivery has still not taken place because allegedly several important parametres of the newbuilding contract have not been met. Attica's representatives are said to be negotiating with the yard on the spot and something tells me there will be more episodes to come.

 

- Have a look at some nice and fresh photos from the Kydon in Puerto Rico, as well as the Blue Carrier 1 in Mykonos.

 

- Another ship that's never gonna see the Greek sun again is the Aqua Myth. It's finally been confirmed that the ship will be sold on for scrap. Obviously there were doubters of the whole story about her coming back to Greece from the beginning. At the same time it is also a fact that for a significant period of time Seajets were planning on doing exactly that, bringing back the ship to Greece.

 

- A development which went rather under the radar but for me signifies a lot, is the repainting of the Cruise Sardegna and Cruise Europa in full Grimaldi colours, following their 10-year plus career with Minoan Lines. Their move to the Sardinian market obviously signifies Grimaldi's responsiveness to the external environment and the fact that they are sharp, sharpest than anyone else right now if you ask me. But it also shows indirectly, how second rate Grimaldi consider the competition in the Adriatic. And how easily they believe they can dominate that market even employing their second tier of tonnage.

 

- Of worthy note is also the traffic figures that Creta Cargo Lines are attracting in their various Aegean Sea sevices. As of January 21st the Talos has substituted the Iosif K and for the last month or so she's been busy like a bee. Only problem is that she is just not big enough to cater for the demand even in the months of January and February, allegedly a couple of weekends ago she had to leave behind a couple of dozens of lorries just for the island of Santorini. At the same time the Orcadia(former Saturn) is being converted and the plan is to try and create a more square shape at the stern in order to help accomodate a couple of lorries more. The speculation here is that for the summer months the Orcadia will cater for smaller islands where by contract Creta Cargo Lines need to ferry fuel to and from, leaving the Talos and the Iosif K to concentrate on higher volume routes and islands. I wonder if they are considering a further expansion to the fleet, it would not surprise me at all.

 

- Last but not least, some more unique content from our Youtube channel, a couple of vintage videos from Thassos, spotting a lot of the landing-craft type tonnage of the era.

 

Take care,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Friday, March 4th, 2022

 

It is always a bit of a strange feeling when you sit down and write about something as trivial as your hobby, when the world is burning around you. At the same time, even though real bombs have not fallen yet outside the Ukraine, we are being bombed by the media, to the point of shell-shock. So you know what, rather than immerse oneself in the real and virtual terror which is dominating around us, might as well talk about ferries :).

 

- The Euroferry Olympia is still sizzling in Platygiali port, fumes keep coming out in considerable volume as one can see in the latest videos, I think it will be a while still before the Fire Service and other experts and investigators can start looking into the incident. Grimaldi are showing their reaction by moving the Finnclipper TBR Igoumenitsa to the Adriatic and it looks as if they won't miss a beat, at least as far as the freight market is concerned. 

 

- Where not only Grimaldi but also ANEK and Superfast are missing many beats, is when it comes to keeping their timetables in the Adriatic. Follow some of the ships just for the fun of it if you fancy, you will be amazed. We' re not talking about delays of an hour or two, which are understandable to a certain extent. We're talking about arrivals in ports after the ships are scheduled to depart for their next sailing, about sailings that are supposed to take place late evening on one day, only to sail after the sun has come up the next day. The companies are keeping silent for the most part, it really blows my mind as to why these delays are taking place. I would imagine some times there are engine issues, more often than not they might be aiming at saving on fuel but whatever the case may be it is absolutely unacceptable that the public is deceived by published timetable which are completely false. Hell, most of the times even the revised timetables are completely out of whack. Appalling behaviour and practices, be alerted in case you decide to travel in the Adriatic.

 

- Even travelling in the Aegean can be a bit tricky, the bunker prices have sky-rocketed and right now it looks highly debatable whether we will have some sort of lower balance, even as late as summer time. So what the companies will do with such high bunker prices is anyone's guess. Will we see some of the highspeed craft not being used at all? Will we see some of the highspeed conventional ferries dropping down the engine revs? Will we see various destinations being combined in one sailing so as to ensure higher loading factors? All this is on the table and the longer the Ukrainian war goes on, the more dire will the repercussions be.

 

- As reported last week, the Aero 1, Attica's first newbuidling fast ferry from Norway is in a whole lot of trouble. The information we had last week proved accurate and it looks as if the ship is heavier than it ought to be, contractually. This means increased consumption, slower speeds and so on. Allegedly Attica are reluctant to take delivery of the ship and are even asking for a change of engines. Obviously the bunker prices are not helping the situation either, I have the feeling this will drag on for quite some time.

 

- Ainaftis, the company owning the Pelagitis and Armenistis have been confirmed as purchasers of the former Autopremier, a car carrier by nature. The ship has been renamed Fino and is headed to Piraeus for what looks like will be a considerable conversion from PCTC to a roro for Aegean service. A remarkable purchase if you ask me in the sense that she will need a decent conversion but when complete she could be a very good ship.

 

- Good news for those of you who like the Ariadne and want to sail on her without having to go all the way to Chios and Mytilene. Once a week, on Wednesdays, she will be calling Mykonos prior to her usual north Aegean destinations. Apparently the move was called for by commercial calls for more space to Mykonos.

 

- Last but not least, it is rumoured that the Smyrna will finally be drydocked in Chalkis Shipyards in the near future. Now does this mean she will see service between Thessaloniki and Izmir as rumoured? We shall see. Personally I have my doubts whether such a connection would be viable without some sort of subsidy, something which does not appear to be available at this point. This ship is a big enigma, we shall see what Levante will do. Mind you, the ship arrived when she was 42 years old and now she turned 45. A whole lot of money for what so far has been a white elephant.

 

Take care,

Nikos, Piraeus

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Monday, March 14th, 2022

 

The raging war in the Ukraine overshadows anything else around us I guess, I do not know whether the relatively quiet 10 days we have had in the Greek ferry scene is an echo of that. Anyway, let's see what has transpired:

 

- If you're a shipping professional in March 2022, it cannot be that you're not following and worrying about the price of bunkers, making your calculations as to what will be the impact on your operation. Well guess what, the same applies to the Greek ferry owners. Already for example the start of the sailings of the Champion Jet 2 has been pushed back by 20 days to the 15th of April, which is a lot closer to the Greek Orthodox Easter(April 24th). Even if some of these craft operate during Easter, everybody's guess is that when Easter is over, they will either be not operating at all, or operating in very much reduced speeds and limited timetables. At the same time there's increased fares across the board, the last in a series of increases over the last year and a half. 

 

Of course what makes everybody go bananas over this, is the fact that the principle reason behind this is the hike in the price of crude oil. Fine. That's understandable in one hand, every business has to fight for its survival, especially when bunkers is the primary item in your cost structure. On the other hand though, supposing that 3 months down the line the crude oil is back at normal levels, the companies won't take back those increases, will they? I think we all know the answer. And we also know that the people pretending to be governing these activities will do nothing to protect the general public from these practices. For those of you who are professionals in the field, you know that instituting some equitable mechanism for a Bunker Adjustment Factor(BAF) and monitoring its implementation, is not freaking rocket science. But obviously there's no political will. At least not in our corner of Europe.

 

Last but not least on the bunker front, I did a rough calc in the main body of this forum about how more expensive is a non-scrubber fitted ferry, versus a scrubber fitted one. I chose the Superfast XI vs the Olympic Champion/Hellenic Spirit who have very, very similar consumptions on the same speed. With the spread between VLSFO and HSFO being now roughly at USD 360/mt, if these 2 ferries consume 150mt per 24hours over the next 3 months the scrubber-fitted Superfast XI is something like 4+ million USD less expensive over this 3-month period. That's to put some perspective on what kind of numbers we're potentially looking at.

 

- On more positive news, Golden Star Ferries' crew is already on board the newly renamed Andros Queen. Her departure to Greece is imminent and I think for the next year we'll have a lot to talk and speculate about.

 

- Another positive development for the owners and the industry is the fact that officially the capacity of the ferries is reinstated at a 100%. This is valid only for one week out but I think the writing is on the wall, baring something gross the capacities will be as they used to be.

 

- Here is the Blue Star Myconos spotting a very slight change in the colour scheme of the funnel and a text relevant to how green the ship has become.

 

- Ten days have passed since last update's commentary about timetables in the Adriatic and the beat goes on. The champion is the Europa Palace, having sailed at 0630hrs on a Thursday morning instead of 1900hrs on a Wednesday evening, with other ships not lagging too far behind. Why the companies refuse to provide realistic timetables is beyond my comprehension. Interestignly, this past week a couple of our members sailed back and forth across the Adriatic on the Europa Palace and the Zeus Palace, so I'm eager to read their impressions from the specific Grimaldi ships.

 

- You don't kill old horses that easily though, please take a look at the fully laden Talos in Santorini, she was in a Piraeus - Santorini - Chania schedule.

 

- Some more vintage Greek ferry scenes, the Delfini XXX has arrived in Santorini but in order for her passengers to step on land, they need to be transhipped via the Dimitroula. This is not thaaaat long ago and the sad thing is that for the most part the infrastructure has remained the same.

 

- Last but not least, the Nissos Aegina looks set to sail in the Piraeus - Aegina route around Easter time. The figure of this ship does not look convincing at all if i'm very honest with you. In a strange way she's so ugly that i'm sure people will notice her just because of that. The commercial success of the venture, remains to be seen.

 

Kind regards,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022

 

Another week that did not bring the end of the war, but at least there's some interesting topics to touch upon, in the Greek ferry scene.

 

- Golden Star Ferries' latest acquisition, the Andros Queen, is now sailing to Greece and has already performed a pit stop in Busan, Korea. Next destination is Singapore. I'm already pretty curious about what they will do in terms of conversion. While it goes without saying that whatever passenger areas and cabins she will have will be upgraded to the usual Golden Star Ferries' high standards, it remains a question at this point on whether more passenger areas will be added or the garage will remain as it is. If it was me making the decisions here, I would first make sure that whatever speed she can do, is not compromised, at least not seriously. On paper she can do slightly more than 23 knots as top speed so let's suppose she has a service speed of 21.5-22. I would not jeopardise that. Granted the Rafina - Andros - Tinos - Mykonos route's current lineup does not warrant any speeds higher than 19 knots. At the same time though, one does not know what the future brings. Who can say whether a couple of years down the line, Blue Star Ferries brings the Blue Star Naxos along and her 22+ knots of service speed. So you gotta have the speed in reserve in order to be able to compete against a conventional vessel of higher speed, you never know what the future brings.

 

From that point on, and as the name Andros Queen suggests, the Stefanou Brothers are keen on using the ship on sailings that include their home island of Andros, of which they are fiercely proud, and justifiably so. The characteristics of the ship though and the possibilities they open up in terms of a conversion makes one wonder on whether it would be wise on their part to convert her in a way that make her a match for the Rafina - Andros - Tinos - Mykonos route, only. I mean she could conceivably be used in a number of other routes, competitive or subsidized ones. I'm not one to join the bandwagon and start throwing random island/route names where she could be a good fit but I will say that when it comes to converting her, they ought to keep their options open and not go for a costly and extensive conversion that will be difficult to undo or modify in the future. The business and social environment around us is too liquid to put your eggs only in one basket.

 

- A whole lot of discussion around the ferry service to Ikaria and Samos during the Orthodox Easter week(18-26 April) and the schedules, or lack thereof. Ikaria and Samos are amongst the biggest islands in the Aegean, with a core of loyal visitors, especially now that the Easter will take place in late April and hopefully the weather will be pretty good. The only problem is that during this entire week, there are only 2 sailings scheduled for these destinations, on the Monday and on the Friday. Obviously this is something that is creating discontent and complaints, the specific islands have been bearing the brunt of the monopoly especially the last 2-3 years. There is speculation that Attica is planning to insert an extra sailing on the Wednesday or Thursday, as things stand now though there is still nothing in the booking engines. Whatever the case may be, they have left it a tad too late for people to seriously plan ahead their holidays. And it shows that Attica's absolute priority is State money and subsidized services.

 

- The saga about the Aero 1 -and her sister ships I suppose- is still going on. The ship has undergone several sea trials outings but it appears as if they're not any closer to delivery. The speeds achieved have been documented however it's pointless to dwell on it as nobody other than the people performing and attending them knows at exactly what engine loads these have been achieved and to what consumption they have lead. One thing is for certain, if Attica end up taking delivery this will be done against a very heavy discount. What also begs an answer is what sense it makes to take delivery of the ships, if their speed is lower than what the current flying dolphins can achieve for example, or lower than the competition in the routes in question.

 

- Quite a bit of discussion in Shipfriends around the Piraeus - Chania route, strong advocates for both Grimaldi and ANEK/Superfast are out there. The facts are that not only does Grimaldi not serve Chania directly through the winter but rather via Heraklion, on top of that especially over the last couple of months they are coming up with any excuse under the moon in order to halt sailings in Heraklion and then send the passengers to Chania by coach. At the same time ANEK/Superfast appear unable to capitalise on the erratic service provided by Grimaldi, following them into suspending sailings to and from Chania on Saturdays. Obviously both companies are trying to cut their losses here, a look at the price of bunkers will tell you all you need to know about how much they're probably bleeding, especially on certain weekend sailings. What I find disgraceful is for a passenger or lorry driver to have embarked a ship headed to Heraklion and Chania, only to be advised a couple of hours after having sailed from Piraeus that the ship cannot proceed to Chania due to "weather conditions", while the ANEK/Superfast ship is berthing just fine. These tactics are of another era, I just don't know how far back. 

 

- Speaking of the devil, three of our members sailed on the Europa Palace from Patras to Ancona and then on the Zeus Palace from Ancona to Igoumenitsa. In the links provided you can see the Greek text, I highly recommend you put it through google translate, it will certainly make for some interesting reading. The gist of it is that both ships are in a horrible shape, I let you find out the details of it.

 

- There's a rumour that has been circulating for a good month now, and it has re-surfaced again. The rumour suggests that the Prevelis will lose the Piraeus - Milos - Santorini - Anafi - Heraklion - Sitia - Kasos - Karpathos - Rhodes subsidized service. And the service will be lost to the Olympus out of all ships. I remind you the Olympus is laid-up in Piraeus since early last September, she has been arrested for debts of her owners and her auctioning was prevented in the last minute during the winter from her owners. If this were to happen, I think it would be a major scandal that ought to be investigated by the law. On one hand, anyone who knows anything about ferries and the specific route will tell you that the Olympus is not suitable for most of the ports in this route. But let's leave this aside, this is the second stage of the process. The first stage is that the subsidy is given to a company which is proven to be financially under very dire straits. The ship itself is arrested and nearly auctioned. If any of these people who are responsible for this decision had a business of their own, would they risk dealing with the owners of the Olympus as things stand now for the latter? I very much doubt so, I know for a fact I would be getting the sack if I did this where I work. But for the Greek civil service, I guess a different set of rules apply.

 

- On to another veteran, the Smyrna is now being drydocked in Chalkis and like all her fleetmates she appears to be receiving a good piece of TLC. How and when all this investment will be paid back is a legitimate question but to answer this for themselves, her owners appear to be hard at work. The initial leak was that she would commence sailings between Izmir and Thessaloniki in April, this is now postponed till June. In the meantime though, the discussion around this ferry link apparently was discussed between the PMs of Greece and Turkey when they met up last week. Something which of course suggests a) that Levante have been knocking on doors very high up and b) there is traction for this route not only to be established but to receive a subsidy. My personal opinion here is that the ship will only sail between Izmir and Thessaloniki provided there is a handsome subsidy available, or else Levante would not have bothered to elevate the subject to the level of the Prime Minister. 

 

Best wishes,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Thursday, March 31st, 2022

 

A bit of a quiet week this past one, thus today's review is rather compact, not for the lack of desire to write though. Actually in this section, you can even make suggestions on what you want to find out more about, in the next update.

 

- Obviously the single piece of news that stands out is the acquisition of the Queen Coral 8 by Levante Ferries, as you have surely seen. Together with the acquisition of the Andros Queen by Golden Star Ferries it confirms the gradual shift of the Greek ferry owners to second-hand Japanese tonnage. The math is simple actually and you don't need to be an expert to come to this conclusion: northern European ferries that have always been a source of second-hand tonnage for the Greeks have now become too big -and perhaps too expensive- for Greek waters. Therefore owners turn to Japan, whether they like it or not. But I have the impression that things in Japan are not that simple either. The fact that Levante ended up going for a combi-freighter in reality as the Queen Coral 8, which will be in need of a major conversion, tells you that suitable tonnage is not easy to find.

 

Initial leaks from Levante suggest that already the conversion works will commence in about 3 weeks from today which in other words means that the steel work at the least will take place in a Far-Eastern shipyard. It's anybody's guess how far they will go with the steel work, one thing is for certain and this is obviously a new stern section. If they were to follow the example of the Elyros, one could imagine that the accommodation and bridge could be brought forward. At the same time I personally have my doubts about that, not only due to the extra cost and time this would entail but also because of the extra weight. And we're talking about a lot of it, all at the bow. Bearing in mind she's already at a draft of 6.20 metres, something tells me they will be very careful with the extra weight.

 

By anybody's standards this is a significant acquisition for Levante, bearing in mind that no Greek company at the moment can sustain financially a major newbuilding. Although the fleet is well maintained and very rarely troubles with engine issues and the lot, the Kefalonia is 47 years old, the Mare di Levante is 38 and the Andreas Kalvos 37, even for modern day Greek coastal shipping, you call this rather aged. The future Contessa di Levante therefore fits the required reduction in age profile and provides Levante with a significant upgrade in garage capacity for the summer months. I'm also pretty sure that in classic Greek fashion, her passenger capacity will be shot through the roof so as to ensure that in the summer one gets a sniff of an array of deodorants from the fellow passengers :D

 

- A new ship coming in, an older one is most probably on her way out. Rumour has it that the ro-ro Ayshe has been sold to Far-Eastern interests and won't be long before she sails out of Perama, where she has spent the last 3 years. I just loved her shape and Japanese style and I guess she's been lucky to be finding new homes while her sister ship, the Hokkaido Maru, has long been scrapped. A consumption of 193mt per 24 hours for a speed of 30 knots is colossal nowadays, even if you switch off one of the engines or drop the rpm.

 

- Greece is hosting another vintage ro-ro these days, the former Undine which is now called Lider Trabzon and performs weekly sailings from Thessaloniki to Limassol, on charter to a road transport operator.

 

- Check our a drone video of the Speedrunner IV in Sifnos from our video gallery.

 

Ciao a tutti,

Nikos, Piraeus

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Saturday, April 9th, 2022

 

Another quiet but not boring week in Greece, let's check out the highlights:

 

- A general comment to start with: the atmosphere and expectation in Greece is that this holiday season will be finally resembling seasons prior to the pandemic. Preparations have started all over the place, booking figures before the Russian invasion were very positive, of course this situation will have a negative effect which will be particularly felt in northern Greece, where the majority of the Russian and Ukrainian holiday clientele was attracted to. Regardless though, everybody is eagerly awaiting the spring and summer months. I'm not entirely sure whether I share the optimism, then again the professionals of the tourism industry surely know better than myself. My point here and my reason for being cautious, is obviously the steep rise in the price of pretty much everything across Europe. Operating ferries, airplanes, hotels has become a lot more expensive, while the spending power of the average individual or family is being crippled. Honestly, sometimes I wonder whether the leaders of the EU and the UK have actually imposed sanctions on their own citizens and inhabitants, rather than Russia. In any case, the ferry industry is already feeling the pressure and we'll be here to see how it will pan out. 

 

- A rather sad piece of news is that the St Damian departed Piraeus under tow for the breakers in Aliaga. This is the last of the Papenburg sisters, a distinguished and distinct class of ferries who ended up giving great service across the globe. Three members of this class have spent time in Greece, even if in short spells. The St Damian/Ionian Spirit never actually sailed in Greece at all. This class of ships will be remembered in Greece for non other than the Express Olympia, a mainstay of the Greek ferry fleet for more than a decade. A credit to their builders.

 

- Another ferry that never turned her propeller in anger during her time in Greece, is the Aqua Solution. One of our members who visited her docking place is reporting that there is commotion on and around the ship and that it will not be long before she is departing for her final resting place.

 

- In more positive news though, we will shortly be seeing a new arrival in Greece and that is no other than the fast ferry Almudaina Dos. For good order's sake this was first reported in the middle of the previous month in this web site. The juicy part here is not the purchase itself but rather who are her new owners. To explain this properly, I need to digress a bit. In Greece, the bus connections between the capitals of the different prefectures and the rural areas of each prefecture but also between the major cities across prefectures, are handled by private companies based in each of the prefectures. In Greek they are called KTEL(it's an acronym) and in essence they are joint ventures of the bus and coach owners of each prefecture. One of these businesses which is the KTEL based in Heraklion, Crete, appears to be the new owner of the Almudaina Dos.

 

On the face of it, this seems like a rather strange choice to invest their money on, however things are not quite this way. Members who are more conversant with this situation than I am, are saying that the Heraklion KTEL apparently controls a large chunk of the daily cruise market between Heraklion and Santorini. This traffic has traditionally been handled by Seajets highspeed craft, which is where the Heraklion KTEL used to channel it. So at some point I guess they decided it was a pity not to take advantage of this opportunity themselves, so they arranged the finance and off they went to purchase a highspeed craft. A new player coming into this route in the midst of Seajets and Grimaldi, would have been intriguing news to start with. Looking at who this owner is, makes it a whole lot more interesting.

 

- In Attica-related news, it seems as if the websites of all the individual ferry companies(BSF, HSW and Superfast) all went down for more than 24 hours, inclusive of course their online booking capabilities. They came back online a couple of hours ago. These things don't go unnoticed as you can imagine, a sign of the times I guess. On more positive news for them, the Nissos Rodos has commenced sailings in the Dodecanese route, pairing the Blue Star 2. The intention is that like last year, the 2nd ship in this route will be calling Vathy, Samos, twice a week. The reason behind this huge deviation route-wise and the ridiculous extra time one has to spend on the ferry to get to the Dodecanese, obviously being that they are struggling to cope with the demand for lorry space to Samos. All through the winter these calls were handled by the Blue Carrier 1, instead of Samos it looks like the latter will be complementing her regular sailings to the Dodecanese with extra calls in Santorini, another Attica destination which is gasping for lorry space.

 

- No news from the Eastern Front, that front being the ferry connection between Cyprus and Greece. The tender process was completed as far back as the 29th of January and there's no white smoke yet. The word on the street is that it's Seajets who have won the tender, why this is not being announced yet though, is obviously a major point of interest.

 

- Vintage Vortigern/Milos Express from our Youtube video gallery.

 

All the best,

Nikos, Piraeus.

Edited by Nick the Greek
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Easter Saturday, April 23rd, 2022

 

Back after a 2-week absence due to work and travelling. In the meantime it's Easter week in Greece and a first chance for the ferry companies to rack up some serious traffic and income in what still looks like being a pre-Covid season in terms of traffic.

 

- Unfortunately the week is highlighted by a harmless accident in the end of it all, that the Superexpress suffered in Tinos last Friday. Apparently the ship lost control and steering which resulted in her hitting the rocks of the port and slightly damaging the pointed end of her left hull. The voyage was stopped there and then with passengers for Mykonos being forwarded by the SuperStar. She then sailed to Rafina and following inspection she is allowed to resume her sailings. My guess is that her owners will wait for permanent repairs until after the Easter period and most probably the long weekend of the 1st of May. An unfortunate start for the Superexpress which had commenced sailings earlier in the week, one hopes this will not set the tone for the remainder of the 2022 season.

 

- Other than that the week was rather uneventful and the traffic was very much increased, justifying a lot of extra sailings especially in the Rafina - Andros - Tinos - Mykonos route. Attica took the decision to send the Blue Star Paros for her annual refit just before Easter time, stretching as usual the entire remaining fleet in a host of extra sailings in order to cope with the Easter demand. This happens every single Easter for a number of years now. I think the extra sailings are added very late and only when they think they can fill the ships up 100pct, the idea of offering the extra sailing a lot in advance in order to perhaps attract more visitors, seems to be escaping them.

 

- Avid readers may remember me moaning about the delays and completely off timetables in the Adriatic earlier this year. Things have gone better since as far as Grimaldi is concerned, the Asterion II though has picked up the torch and emerged as the infamous champion of delays. The latest one has her sailing from Venice this weekend 24 hours than she would normally have sailed. The reason behind all this is that her speed has dropped down to 18 knots, presumably due to overdue engine maintenance or some issue she may be encountering. Her sailings have been calculated on the basis of 21-21.5 knots which is the speed she ought to have been achieving. It's not the first time a ship is facing similar problems. It's the first time though that Attica are simply refusing to adjust the timetables of the ship bearing in mind the ship's true capabilities at this point in time.

 

- Did a sailing on the Superferry earlier this week. The ship is at her usual high standards, what stood out is the cleanliness even though I was sailing in the early evening and the ship was coming off her morning crossing. I highly recommend a sailing on her, come summertime. Speaking of Golden Star Ferries, their new acquisition Andros Queen is now in Piraeus and the expectation is that she will receive a mild conversion, rather than the drastic rebuilt that we saw on the Superferry. Eagerly expecting the final outcome, in the meantime you can see a collection of photos of her.

 

- Seajets' Sporades Star commenced her sailings and the initial impressions about her seem to be very positive from the locals. An extensive interior rebuilt has gone a long way to justify this, you can see her in her new livery here, together with a host of interior photos.

 

- Another new arrival is the fully rebuilt Antigoni, a landing craft type ferry that has already commenced sailings in the Saronic Gulf. I really like her colour scheme and you can see a lot more of her here.

 

- News about the Smyrna are basically some statement by the deputy Minister of Shipping, highlighting the need for a connection between Thessaloniki and Smyrni(Izmir). I can practically guarantee you the deputy Minister had no idea of this need up until a few months ago, it seems though that the owner of Levante is talking to people very high up in the Greek government. This has resulted in miraculous revelation and enlightment within the Ministry of Shipping, which in turn means one can smell the State subsidy to Levante Ferries for this route. Oh well, we're a rich bunch anyway:rolleyes:.

 

- The schedules of the Cat I from Agios Konstantinos to Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonisos for the summer season has been published. Incidentally the commercial name of the venture is Magic Sea Ferries, a name which personally makes me think of The Who :D. Long story short, from the timetables it looks as if the sailings have been calculated on the basis of the "fast ferry" sailing at 23 knots, instead of the advertised 30 knots. Where I come from this is called a joke, i'm sure if you ask a legal counsel specialising in contract law, if this turns out to be the case, he will tell you that it could conceivably be a breach of the contract of carriage. This one is not starting with the best of omens, let's watch it out.

 

- Last but not least one can already hear the bells of the churches in Piraeus ringing in joy. That's because the union of the ferry owners has finally woken up to the fact that there are a host of new environmental regulations around the corner and that they need to adapt somehow, realising that they cannot afford this. If you look at their deck of slides on the subject, it's stuff that this humble forum has been debating about in our technical section for many years now, I kid you not. Not because we're some sort of wise bunch but because for anyone who works in shipping and looks beyond the confines of the Greek reality, these are issues that have been burning for a number of years now. I guess better late than never, I hope even if belatedly the ferry sector and the surrounding industry can get their act together.

 

- By the way, we have a bunch of new videos in our Youtube gallery, check out the Nissos Samos in Chios, the Amandine in Rotterdam, the Isle of Inishmore in Calais and the Antigoni in Piraeus.

 

All the best,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Sunday, May 29th, 2022

 

It's been more than a month since the last update but to my defense, for anyone who's working in shipping and is not just dicking around in social media, it's a super busy period with an unprecedented amount of uncertainties and challenges, all happening at the same time. Of course the same principles apply to the Greek ferry sector so let's review what has happened over the last month or so, always with a critical and unconventional eye. This review turned out to be a longish one, so grab a cup of tea and enjoy:

 

- Picking it up where we left from, it was a great Easter for the ferry companies with very good load factors and without disruptions in the services. Even in the case of the Superexpress hitting the rocks in Tinos, the disruption was minimal. If bunker prices had been in normal levels, we would be talking about a fantastic start to the season, as it is though the bunker cost is eating into the profit of the ferry companies. The fact that even the usually full ships of the Heraklion route are killing their rpm, is a measure of how bad things are. Still though, there is optimism for the summer and it looks highly likely we will see in action even the most expensive fast craft to operate, in other words the WC Jet and Tera Jet. The intra-Cycladic passenger figures are also looking very healthy, baring some escalation of the war in the Ukraine or some incident with the Sultan Erdogan, it looks like it will be a great summer in Greece. 

 

- Talking about the fast ferries, Seajets looks as if they will come out with all guns blazing. The odd ship out looks to be the Superspeed Jet, at the same time though there are question marks around the acquisition of the Speedrunner III(TBR Speedrunner Jet). The talk of the town is that Seajets have masterfully placed Aegean Speedlines between a rock and a hard place. Apparently, Seajets have agreed on an MOA with Aegean Speedlines and have remitted 10% of the agreed purchase price. Problem is that for the remaining 90%, their deadline is the end of June. And until that time, not only Aegean Speedlines cannot use the ship, not only Seajets have taken over all their existing bookings, but also Aegean Speedlines have submitted a request to the Ministry for the ship not to be any longer considered for active duty. For the life of me, I do not know how as a seller you agree to this. Amateuristic is the least I can say about how Aegean Speedlines have handled this sale. It's as if they were absolutely desperate to sell.

 

What will happen from now on? My personal guess is that with Seajets holding all the cards, close to the sale date they will come back citing seemingly valid arguments in order to re-negotiate the sale price, downwards obviously. And Aegean Speedlines will succumb to the inevitable. It looks as if the master plan of Aegean Speedlines was to sell the Speedrunner III off and replace her with the Ekaterini P, as discussions have taken place with Fast Ferries on the subject. Unfortunately for Aegean Speedlines, the Theologos Panagiotakis-led Fast Ferries, are not willing to let their ship go at a price which Aegean Speedlines are willing to pay. All in all, not looking good for Aegean Speedlines. Not good at all.

 

- More on Seajets with a mention that over the last 2 weeks they have faced 4 incidents of engine trouble or other technical issues on the Aqua Jewel, Sifnos Jet, Power Jet and Champion Jet 1. As ever with them, keeping their ships running is most probably the biggest challenge come the summer season. On to success stories for them, the Sporades Star is shaping up to become one. It looks as if she's been very positively received from the local communities in the islands she's serving and is gaining popularity and income. She's nicely renovated in terms of her interiors(you can see it here) but she's still a 44-year old ferry. This is saying more about how unhappy the local communities were from the existing ships if you ask me, rather than how happy they are with the Sporades Star. At the same time the SuperStar(former Superferry II) has also commenced sailings between Rafina - Andros - Tinos - Mykonos and Paros. I sailed on her and she looks in top shape, offering a nice alternative. You can see photos and videos of her. Last but not least, related to the owner of Seajets, Marios Iliopoulos is the recently published book Dead In The Water, by Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel. You can find some interesting links about this case also here, I won't do a spoiler. 

 

- Something extremely interesting which is coming out of the Greek press has to do with the preliminary findings around the tragedy of the Euroferry Olympia. According to that press therefore, the cause of the fire was a short circuit. Not coming from the lorries on board the ship though, but from faulty equipment/cabling which belonged to the ship. If this turns out to be true, it will mean that the ship and her owner Grimaldi Lines is to blame for the incident and the tragic loss of life. With all the legal consequences that follow, as well as the tarnishing of their image.  

 

- You will have seen by now the sad scenes of the departure of the former Theofilos and Mytilene in order to be scrapped in Aliaga. Let alone the ferry enthusiasts, even the local communities have very fond memories of these two ships and their demise was news everywhere. They represented the golden years of NEL Lines in the 90s, when the company was strong and profitable and when nobody could predict that within only a few years would be practically bankrupt. I wish someone would write a book for them at some point, from the moment the decision was taken to build the 3 fast ferries the company turned out to be a shipping management textbook of how NOT to manage a company.

 

- An unsurprising development is the Olympus being awarded the subsidized sailings the Prevelis has been performing till date. A scandal if you ask me. Granted the owners of the Olympus submitted the lowest bid, at the same time we are talking about a company with an extremely limited track record and a ship which was very nearly auctioned-off due to their debts during the winter. You gotta live your myth in Greece though, you can bet your bottom dollar that some people involved in this from the State's side, will spend a luxurious summer:rolleyes:. On top of that, anyone who's familiar with the ports she is supposed to be calling and the technical characteristics of the ship are expressing serious doubts about how this will go, especially in challenging weather conditions. We'll be here to comment on that too, the ship is expected to commence sailings in the latter part of June. As for the Prevelis? She is up for sale by ANEK, even though one can consider a number of possibilities for further employment for her.

 

- Another unfortunate ship is the Cat I, despite an entire year(or even more) of preparations she has apparently become the victim of a very serious technical issue(rumour is crankshaft) which pushed back her debut in the Agios Konstantinos - Skiathos - Skopelos route by at least a month. I have my doubts even for that. Same story for the Nissos Aegina from which allegedly most of the crew has been signed off and her summer sailing schedule is still pending approval. There's a bit of a mystery around her, her owners are not the most reliable ones either. Once again too much social media hoo-ha over something clearly difficult, has never done anyone any good.

 

- A fair amount of discussion is taking place around the Smyrna di Levante and the imminent(?) opening of the Thessaloniki - Izmir route. The debate has to do both with whether the -extremely tense nowadays- relations between Greece and Turkey will adversely affect the venture and also with what is the real target of Levante Ferries in terms of traffic. Is it the lorry traffic between Greece and Turkey, is it the transit lorry traffic towards Italy or are they aiming at creating passenger and car traffic between two emblematic cities in the two countries? Is there a subsidy somewhere in play? These are all question marks at this point and everyone's curious to see how things will pan out. Levante had expressed their intention to open this route since they took over the ship, so they had a good 3 years to prepare for this. So in my humble opinion, no excuses if they get it wrong. 

 

- From the Greece to Turkey connection, to the Greece to Cyprus one. Finally the contract was awarded, you can see the who is who here. The sailings ought to start in 3 weeks from now with the former Japanese ferry Daleela, a very strange choice indeed. The ship has been dry-docked in Egypt and is now getting ready to cross the Suez Canal towards the Med. She will be a very interesting ship to sail on and obviously it remains to be seen whether the Cyprus politicians were visionaries who will bring tons of extra tourist traffic to their island, or -as I am suspecting- this is another few million thrown out of the window in a service which makes no commercial sense. They do seem determined though to proceed with a similar subsidy for a service with one of their eastern neighbours.

 

- Attica has been fairly quiet over the last month or so, except from the slight damages the Nissos Samos suffered in Chios as a result of bad weather. Unfortunately for Attica this happened during the day and in plain sight so there was no option for them but to concede the happening. It's a great laugh if you read the official announcement from the Coast Guard about the incident, the ship is described to "have touched the quay ever so slightly". This type of expression is unheard of in Hellenic Coast Guard-speak and demonstrates their perplexity about the fact they had to write something unpleasant about Attica. Corruption and lack of guts in plain sight. One extra piece of news is that the Hellenic Highspeed will most probably not be sailing in Greece this year, rumour has it she will be chartered to African Morocco Lines for service between Algeciras and Tanger Med.

 

- The former Almudaina Dos has now become the Santa Irini as you have read in previous updates, a takeover crew is already on board in Almeria and before the end of June she will have sailed to Greece. A very interesting development for the reasons i have mentioned in my previous blogs.

 

- Several of our members have now reported near misses or dodgy handling in terms of managing the traffic in Piraeus by part of the Piraeus Traffic Service of the Hellenic Coast Guard. Examples of that in the recent past have been visible and I have the feeling it won't be long before our fears are proven true.

 

- Last but not least over the last month or so, in our gallerie we have seen every single ship that has been talked about in Greece and several from abroad. I would encourage you to browse through it, I am highlighting just the Theofilos and the Cenk T. Our YouTube video gallery also has a number of new and interesting additions.

 

Take care and enjoy the summer ahead,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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A rather quiet week this past one, although if you're a Greek ferry owner there's plenty of signs of optimism, at least in the short term:

 

- Within this last week, it has been confirmed that there will be a subsidy by part of the government in terms of the fuel cost. It's not been announced according to which criteria and/or formula this will take place, my personal guess is that in classic Greek fashion the owners will extend the open palm and say thank you for whatever they may receive. And of course the Greek State won't ask many questions about what their exposure was, relative to the compensation they will receive. At the same time, the Minister of Mercantile Marine has announced that the EU has granted an exemption from the Fuel EU Maritime legislation till 31st December 2029. I won't go into the details of what this means, suffice it to say that the Greek ferry owners will be shielded from the environmental regulations and the premium they would have to pay for employing ships of an older technology, will not be there any more. Which is a big burden off their shoulders. At the same time, why do I know that come December 2029, we'll be having more or less the same type of discussion with the owners having done zip in terms of compliance?

 

At the same time the bunker prices as well as the fare prices(Attica again is leading the way) have taken another hike to the point that the average bloke on the street will be hard pressed to afford a summer holiday, just by virtue of the expensive fare prices. Let alone everything else. I believe that all of us should be taking a long hard look at our wonderful politicians and ask ourselves and themselves how it is possible that European citizens are paying the price both for the war in the Ukraine and also for the fact that in decades past nobody has done the most basic thing in any business: avoid being fully dependent about something(energy) from any one provider(Russia).

 

- On a more positive note, Attica have finally taken delivery of the Aero 1 Highspeed and I think the Aero Highspeed 2 will shortly be delivered as well, so chances are we will see them in service this summer. One thing is for sure, they must have saved a lot of money in order to agree to take delivery. So what remains to be answered is what is the effect of the problems that have come to surface in relation to the initial specifications agreed with the yard. The only way we'll see this is in practice of course and in comparison with the competition. These trio of ships will definitely be the most efficient in the Saronic Gulf, at the same time it would be a bit awkward to perhaps see them being slower than the competition. So an interesting thing to watch over the summer. You can see the Aero 1 Highspeed just after delivery here.

 

- There are fast ferries which are not that lucky though. The Sifnos Jet is still sailing(it's been a good 10 days now) at reduced speeds, not being able to repair whatever engine issue she is suffering from. At the same time the Supercat Jet is preparing to substitute her, something which ought to have taken place several days ago. It looks though as if the Supercat Jet is suffering issues of her own which till date have not allowed her to perform but some sea trials. No surprises here, as ever, the biggest questionmark over Seajets is reliability.

 

- Still the Sifnos Jet is luckier than the Cat I. The latter is now confirmed not to sail this summer, as a result of crankshaft issues which apparently cannot be dealt with within a reasonable time frame. I will add that it could very well be it does not make sense to repair her, who knows. Some people will say it's a tough blow. I will say that when you make a conscious decision to invest on a fast ferry(whose engines are de facto trickier than a conventional ferry) of a certain age that has remained idle for years and years, you have been warned. And you take your chances.

 

- A quick glance at the Daleela, due to commence sailings between Piraeus and Limassol later this month.

 

- Last but not least, another Lazarus has risen. It's the European Star and according to the website of Starlines, she will be sailing between Sarande in Albania and Bari in Italy.

 

- Have a look at a couple of night videos from Mykonos, we have the Ariadne as well as the impressive SuperStar.

 

Take care,

Nikos, Piraeus

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The heat is on, literally and figuratively, in the Greek ferry sector and it never gets boring. Let's see what has transpired over the last couple of weeks:

 

- Seajets is at the forefront of the news, unfortunately for them for the wrong reasons. While traffic figures are perhaps encouraging what is not encouraging is the general chaotic impression you get about their services. In many routes nobody knows which ship will be performing even tomorrow's sailing. Already we're in the middle of June and we have had ships like the Sifnos Jet with persistent engine issues. She was subbed by the Supercat Jet which is also limping, as is the Caldera Vista. The Aqua Blue suffered a blackout in the middle of the Aegean, while nobody understands why the Superrunner Jet is still out of action. This is painting a rather grim picture for their services and image, I would say the WC Jet is probably the one that flies the flag high, not only in terms of reliability but perhaps in terms of profitability as well.

 

All their fast craft but in particular the Champion Jet 2 are also attracting very negative comments about the practices they follow during embarkation and disembarkation. In order for them not to lose time in ports, extend the voyage time and then face additional fuel consumption and perhaps even a double crew on board, this is what they do: in every port, the cars are loaded first. As soon as the cars are in, the passengers are allowed in through the main garage door. The actual entry to the passenger areas and the control of the tickets is performed usually at the bow end of the garage where appropriate entrances exist. What this accomplishes is that instead of checking tickets for 400 passengers at the aft passenger entrances, all 400 passengers embark in 1-2 minutes and you can sort them out while the ship has let her lines go and is sailing. Clever yes, not safe at all though. Because when the fast ferry starts rolling and pitching and with zero ventilation in the garage, the atmosphere gets really stuffy and people get seasick very easily, something that can lead to injuries. Let alone that then in these conditions they have to climb on flights of stairs in order to reach the passenger areas.

 

Conversely, for disembarkation passengers and drivers are called upon to descend to the garage at least 10 minutes before the actual arrival of the ship. Again the same effect and unsafe practice, aimed at the ferry not wasting one minute more alongside. I mean you cannot call them passengers one might argue, you call them a herd because this is how Seajets treats them. Whichever way you look at it, it's a blatantly unsafe practice. Of course the glorious Hellenic Coast Guard turn their heads the other way, as always. It's amazingly scandalous, the amount of direct or indirect support Seajets gets from every single government over the last 15 years. Just unbelievable. To add insult to injury, one of the presenters of the Greek version of Masterchef and a very popular celebrity in Greece, travelled on the Superstar and bought a cabin for his trip. The state of the cabin turned out not to be exactly stellar, something which prompted bad publicity in social media from the presenter and an avalanche of reproductions of these shameful images on the SuperStar.

 

- The horrible practices are not a monopoly of Seajets of course. During at least the last week or so, when the roro Kapetan Christos is calling Mykonos, it is a "joy" to watch the local webcam. For reasons unknown to me, the ship is not enjoying any linesmen service from Mykonos port, the photos speak for themselves. This results in the elderly ship approaching the dock very cautiously and many times using her stern ramp as a break in order to prevent the aft part of her hull to hit the dock. Then the sailors jump out carrying the ship's lines in their own hands and tie her up. Again here safety goes out of the window. And again the local Coast Guard are picking their nose and chewing the result. You cannot have a ship berth like this. Either you prohibit them from berthing in Mykonos until the issue is resolved, or you force the linesmen to handle the ship.

 

- On more positive developments, Attica/HSW have taken delivery of the Aero Highspeed 1 and 2 so I believe we'll see them both in action during this summer, even if only in August. Clearly the most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly ships in the Greek fleet, we shall see what their reliability and performance is very shortly. It would have been a massive blow if in the end Attica had not taken delivery of these ships, in an industry which is crying for fleet renewal.

 

- Check out a couple of old friends, featuring in some old photos. Here is the Vergina and here is the Santorini. Bonus coverage is the Ella that finally departed for the voyage of no return.

 

- There's also another category of ferries right now in Greece, ferries that were supposed to be sailing but aren't. The Smyrna di Levante is one of these, she ought to have been sailing between Thessaloniki and Smyrna already since last April, if one were to believe their unofficial press officer. So you do call this a blunder as far as the time horizon is concerned. Fair enough though, the ship will sail in this route  according to all accounts. Apparently the ferry is being worked upon in 2 shifts per day in order to commence sailings the soonest possible, it is only a matter of time. And then I think we will have plenty to talk about. There is even a rumour going around that Levante might charter in the Kriti II as either a replacement or a partner to the Smyrna di Levante.

 

- Another case like this is the Nissos Aegina who finally got converted into some kind of craft, however she cannot secure the permission to sail to Aegina island, as originally intended. The how and why is a cloudy issue, the resume is she's laid up and her only chance at seeing action is what is rumoured to be a charter out to an operator in the Ionian Sea. Mind you, chartering of landing craft type ferries in Greece, ain't that common so not sure what is the degree of truth in this. 

 

- The Daleela is in her first voyage from Limassol to Piraeus as I'm writing these lines, I never thought I'd see the day. There's an inauguration ceremony in the cards when she calls Piraeus, very interested to see whether the tax payer's money were a complete or partial waste. We should be subsidizing energy consumption and not our shipowner friends.

 

- Work is progressing on the Andros Queen, check out the latest.

 

- Same story for the Santa Irini, former Almudaina Dos. She is being drydocked in Piraeus these days. I think that her new owners will do the absolute minimum they have to in order to get the ship sailing as soon as possible and then we'll see if during the winter they perform any extra refit, especially in what concerns her interior.

 

- Contrary to what has been rumoured over the last year or so, the Kriti II is back in action following a refit and renewal of her certificates, in her usual Piraeus - Heraklion route.

 

- Check out Visentini's ML Freyja during one of her recent calls in Rotterdam.

 

- Last but not least, the Olympus is being towed from repair berth to repair berth in the vicinity of Piraeus with no clear sign as to when she will be activated. On paper she is due to take over from the Prevelis on July the 11th, according to the local press though it is still not possible to place actual bookings in the system for these dates. And the local communities who are looking forward to a good tourist season, are very stressed and suspicious about this. Rumour on the street is that the owners of the Olympus are strapped of cash and have resorted to getting a bank loan for working capital to get the ship started, using the subsidy award as collateral. My friends in the banking sector are telling me that at least in Greece accepting the subsidy as a collateral is a highly debatable practice. But it goes a long way to tell you the type of State support these chaps appear to be enjoying. There are two things for sure: one is that the Olympus saga will have many more saucy episodes and two that dumping the Prevelis and ANEK over a company that nearly went bust 3 months ago, ought to have already attracted the attention of law enforcement. In normal countries that is, and not in the European version of Colombia.

 

Take care,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Thursday, July 7th, 2022

 

Back following an eventful 10-day shipspotting trip, the results of week you can see in our gallery over the next few weeks. At the same time, into July have we entered this summer season and admittedly the traffic figures are the highest we have seen in several years.

 

- What's also the highest though, are the prices of the ferry tickets which have climbed to unseen before heights. To the point where for the average Greek guy on the street, the cost is virtually prohibiting holidays in the Aegean islands. Of course the ferry companies have the usual excuse of the fuel prices, the war in the Ukraine, the invasion of Martians:D and so on. What is pissing people off is that whenever the war is over and the fuel prices will come back to some sort of normality, guess what, the ticket prices will remain as high as they are. Of course when you have a useless State sector who fails to regulate at least that part, this is what you get. 

 

- The most observant amongst you, will have noticed that we've been hearing nothing about the -now almost legendary- takeover of ANEK Lines from Attica. No wonder, because the overall economic and political climate is just not condusive to a deal being done. What was already a difficult proposition is becoming even more difficult with fuel prices and inflation rates where they are. No idea what will happen here, I will just say that where others were discussing about which livery will be used on which ship, we were suggesting being cautious and counting chickens only after the contract to buy the farm has been signed.

 

- For those of you who are curious about the Daleela and how she looks inside-out, here is the full monty.

 

- One of the most interesting topics for me this summer, is the takeover of the subsidised service to Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes from the Olympus. The latest here is that the Prevelis, who is expected to stop sailing within the next few days, has dropped down to speeds of 14.5-15 knots, resulting in huge delays and frustration. I'm not sure if this is done in order to save on fuel, or she is just not being maintained in view of her imminent demise. I suspect the latter. But will she stop sailing? The Olympus is scheduled to step in her shoes in 4 days from today, next Monday at 1800hrs. Only problem is, she's nowhere to be seen. An alleged trial run never took place and the ship is languishing in Drapetsona. What's even worse is that with today's prices on the Prevelis, one of our members has calculated that the cost of getting to Karpathos for a family of 4 plus a normal car and a cabin, adds up to EUR 458. On the Olympus, exactly the same case, costs EUR 720. Seriously, EUR 720 to get to Karpathos? I'm pretty sure I can get a cheaper ticket to New York. 'Nough said, if I were the public prosecutor in Athens, I would be calling upon those chaps at the Ministry of Mercantile Marine in order for them to explain how and why this service was awarded to a company whose only asset was nearly auctioned off at the same time the tender was taking place.

 

- Unfortunately we're experiencing again the same type of issues we have seen in years past from Seajets. Several mechanical breakdowns, ships that are sailing well below their designated speeds either due to engine issues or just by virtue of saving on fuel and the usual interchanges between ships and routes. The latter though seems to have stopped in the last few days. Suffice it to say though, our members are still discussing about which ship will be where this summer. It seems clear to me that Seajets have their modus operandi which they are not willing to change, as long as it makes them money or the Coast Guard turns a blind eye on all the things they do. They just won't take the step ahead to another level of operation and customer service. And -oh by the way- nothing appears to be happening with this small fleet of cruise ships they have purchased about 2 years ago. Wonder what that will produce.

 

- Check out the nearly completed A Galeotta at Visentini's Porto Viro yard.

 

- Speaking of Seajets, the sale of the Speedrunner III has finally gone ahead, although it does not seem she will be used by Seajets this summer. They just won't stop, won't they? I have the impression their aim is to basically buy every other player out of the high speed ferry market. Rumours have been heard about them being interested in the Santorini Palace, in the Superrunner, I think total domination is the only thing that will slow them down. And of course always being very careful in not stepping into the territory of Attica or Grimaldi.

 

- It has been confirmed the Hellenic Highspeed will see yet another twist in her carreer in Greece, she has been confirmed chartered by AML for the latter's Algeciras - Tanger Med service. Check her our in her new livery.

 

- The Santa Irini, former Almudaina Dos, has now been drydocked in Piraeus and her owners are aiming at a soonest possible activation out of Heraklion to Santorini, on a daily cruise programme.

 

- Have a look at the Eco Livorno at her namesake port as well as the Eurocargo Sicilia spotting full Grimaldi Lines livery and a scrubber.

 

- The Aero 3 Highspeed is due to be delivered to Attica next week, it seems very likely that all 3 highspeed craft will be transported to Greece via some specialised cargo ship, this would make a very interesting sight.

 

- In a surprising development, the ugly duckling Nissos Aegina has been chartered by Joy Cruise and will see action in western Greece, sailing between Igoumenitsa and Paxos islands. I cannot say what money is involved but whatever it is, will be most welcome by her owners who appear to have created a huge flop with her, so far. This will be a summer charter only of course, so the problem remains in the long run.

 

- On to a further charter, Attica have chartered the Pelagitis for the next 2 months and so every Wednesday she will be sailing from Piraeus to the Dodecanese. Let's see how this one will pan out, the Pelagitis is sailing at speeds of landing craft type ferries. Mechanically rumour has it she is in a precarious condition, this will be interesting.

 

- The Smyrna di Levante is still under refit in Drapetsona, according to our members she will need a good month at least, before she's ready to sail between Thessaloniki and Smyrna(Izmir). This development seems to corroborate what despite all the fanfare we were saying in this web site. And that is the fact we were only seeing graphic representations of the work being done on the ship, no real pictures. The virtual reality of social media and websites sponsored by Levante Ferries, in all their might. Anyway, feverish work is apparently being done, let's see the outcome.

 

- Have a first look at Balearia's Eleanor Roosevelt, a few days ago in Denia, Spain.

 

Enjoy the summer,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Sunday, July 17th, 2022

 

Changing things around this week. I just published my trip report on the Kerry in Greek and I thought it would be perhaps interesting to share it in English as well. So here it is, hope you enjoy.

 

 

Let's get started on the trip reports of the summer so far, before they get old. And we tackle them in  chronological order, starting from Spain and Valencia where we are are preparing for a passage from mainland Spain to Palma de Mallorca. Three options there available to us. Balearia, Grimaldi and GNV. To get a taste of the prices, the cheapest option is the relative newcomer to the service, GNV. If we take an indicative passage on August 10, one way to Palma 2 people, an inside cabin and a car (our case that is), GNV is asking EUR 261 for one of GNV Bridge/GNV Sealand/Golden Bridge. The price is not prohibitive. Balearia at the same time (using the Hedy Lamarr) is asking for EUR 397, in actual fact for a  Visentini ship, similar to the GNV ones. Here I should note that Balearia gives you other options in its booking engine such as an outside cabin  for EUR 11, the possibility to cancel your reservation free of charge for EUR 62, they charge you EUR 20-25 depending on the dog kennel you choose, while they also have animal-friendly cabins with an extra charge of EUR 40. The best thing is that if you want, you can stay half an hour more (30 minutes in other words) longer in your cabin at a cost of EUR 20. This last one, is a practical rip-off.

 

The highlight is Grimaldi of course. For the same date, they are asking for EUR 557 for a crossing on the Ciudad de Alcudia :eek:. I say it again, for a crossing on the Ciudad de Alcudia, ex-Euroferry Egnazia, the sister of the ill-fated Euroferry Olympia. Double money and more than GNV. And it's not like there's a significant difference in the departure/arrival times. Evening departures after 2200 from Valencia and early morning arrival around 0530-0630 in Palma. In other words, it is not that the offered product is dramatically different, so as to justify such a price difference. By the way, all companies have options in their booking to pre-pay for your dinner or breakfast, offering discounts. We finally chose Balearia for various reasons and  we booked our tickets at the end of May, 30 days before our trip and with Balearia's booking system indicating that we would sail on the Hedy Lamarr. Well, during these 30 days, being suspicious and monitoring their reservation system on a daily basis, the name of the ship as well as the departure/arrival times (with small differences of 30-60 minutes), changed 8 times. We saw 4 different ships, we saw different hours, we saw the departure being paired with a second ship, in short a huge mess that reminded us of Seajets, although here I think we are doing the Greek company an injustice.

 

Anyway, after photographing the day's arrivals, we release the handbrake and roll towards the terminal. Did I say Terminal? In the flow of speech. But before we get there let me say that the port gate was opened by showing the printed electronic reservation, from the car window. I mean, the reservation could have been yesterday, last year or any other date for that matter. And it could have been under another name. In a few words, a pair of terrorists could have easily entered the port and blown the place to the sky. After driving 2.5 kilometers into the port, we arrived at the Balearia terminal which resembles a favela. Some containers on top of each other and we're done. The first employee who talked to us did not speak a word other than Spanish, the second one, even if she did speak a foreign language, chose to use her mother tongue. I mean you see a car with a license plates from the other side of Europe, what are the chances that its passengers speak Spanish (regardless if we did)? Speak some English and show some respect to your passengers. We went through the second and third controls in no time, following simple scan of the reservation and we were ushered to the queue of cars which in total must have been around 70 for this particular sailing. This fenced off area resembled a maximum security prison yard (I remind you that at the same time nobody had verified who we are), including a tent that had been erected in the middle to protect one from the sun, which looked something like this. In general, Spanish ports with their security arrangements give you the feeling that you are not a passenger but a detainee for verification, suspected of activities that will overthrow the regime:rolleyes:. You can get a taste of driving on to the Kerry, departing Valencia and driving off in Palma. Please give the driver credit for his maneuvers on the stern ramp:D so that the apron of our low car doesn't get damaged.

 

I devoted three paragraphs to the preliminaries but I think it was necessary so that you have a complete picture of the travel experience and know the ins and outs, if you happen to be in the area. The good news is that the experience of the trip and the ship itself was noticeably better than the boarding process. A ship devotd to freight, more than 20 years old, but the ownership of Stena Line guarantees a minimum good level of maintenance and respect for the passenger, despite the fact that the ship's passenger spaces are limited, as you can see in the ship's general arrangement plan. Apart from the sun deck which offers great views, there are two aft balconies overlooking Kerry's upper garage which is dominated by the funnel with Balearia's stylish B.

 

Very pleasantly surprised by our interior cabin, tasteful finish, good materials and spaciousness. Many points also for the wardrobe that was behind the door, ingenious construction. There is also the corridor that led to the cabin, the floor a combination of laminate and carpet. From there, classic Visentini layout with almost all common areas in one deck. Here is the self service restaurant, which essentially had two areas to take your meal, one on the right and one on the left. We didn't go for dinner, but a visual quality control left us with the impression that the quality of the food on offer was good, without, of course, any huge variety. There are also offers that make it even more affordable to sit down and eat like a human being, fair and reasonable I think. In the same area one can see the forward lounge which was closed during the night on this particular ship, as well as the shop opposite the particular lounge.

 

Walking aft, and through this small corridor, one steps into the reception area. It is rather congested during boarding as passengers queue to collect cabin keys. The arrangement of the reception is problematic because it does not allow 2 members of the crew to give keys simultaneously, resulting in delays which were fortumately tolerable on our trip. The lounge that stays open during the night is aft, where you can drink an ice cold Estrella and enjoy yourself, stern view included. To the right of this lounge there is also an area with aircraft-type seating. A similar space, but not as elegant, exists on the upper deck, which was closed during our trip.

 

Other than that, it is worth mentioning that officially the ship has a policy of wearing a mask, but I would say that less than half of the passengers observed the measure, us being part of this minority. As has been pointed out - and rightly so - by various travellers on board Visentini ships, the access to the garage is very narrow and claustrophobic, see Kerry's here. On the staircases Balearia promote their ships in which LNG is being used as fuel, we see here the Abel Matutes flexing its tanks. An element that still refers to Visentini is the mosaic in the forward lounge with the initials CNV which apparently stands for Cantiere Navale Visentini.

 

Overall a nice trip with no incidents. Departures from mainland Spain have an unusual feeling because as soon as you exit the port you are out in the open sea. You feel the swell of the ocean and not the sharp waves of the Aegean. And when the weather is bad, you can run but you can't hide behind other islands. If I were to travel again this summer in this route, my choice criterion would be purely price, I would take the cheapest offer I could find. This is because the product offered by the three competitors is similar, at least looking at the ships they have chosen. So there is nothing special that will make you follow a certain ship or company. The Kerry nevertheless, is a value for money choice.

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday, July 24th, 2022

 

Picking up where we left from and as promised, here is another trip report from this summer. It's the Mega Express Four. I will endeavour to compile a proper review during the coming week.

 

Second trip of the summer season, and it happened to be Mega Express Four, formerly Superfast II. I say it happened because it was no coincidence that we wanted to make the trip from Alcudia (northeast of Mallorca) to Toulon (an hour east of Marseille), but when we booked the trip we had no clue as to which ship it would be. And this is because in the context of the gradual transformation of Corsica Ferries into a low cost company, in their booking engine no one can see ship names anymore. The selection of the ship per route seems to be made much closer to the departure date and depending on how the reservations are going. In short, one can book a passage from Livorno to Golfo Aranci for September, if the traffic numbers are high they may travel with Mega Regina. If not, they may travel on the Corsica Victoria. Admittedly, there is a logic to what they are doing, provided that there is nothing misleading in their booking. For example, a passage of 6 hours is advertised and by choosing another ship later, the passage suddenly becomes 10 hours. A friend ad this happen to him last year, so there appears to be an issue here.

 

This particular Sunday sailing (0930 from Alcudia arriving 2100 in Toulon) for weeks before our trip was peerformed every week by a different ship. So as Greek ferry enthusiasts, when we saw the Mega Express Four coming, we had no complaints. In fact, we confirmed that we would be traveling on this particular ship about a week before our trip, when we were notified that we could do online check-in. In fact during the check-in, we had the opportunity to choose our own cabin on the ship's deck plan. Of course we chose a 2-berth exterior cabin at the forward part of deck 8 of the accomodation block, with a view towards the bow. A choice that as we will see shortly, was unfortunate.

 

Arrived in picturesque Alcudia an hour before departure and concurrently with the arrival of the Mega Express Four (giving a turnaround time of just one hour). At the entrance of the terminal, a simple scan of the reservation was conducted without ID and license plate verification. The unpleasant surprise was the obligation of car passengers to board through the terminal. Indeed, and shortly before the loading of the vehicles begins, one sees the passengers walking towards the ship via a footbridge. And where I assumed they would board from an aircraft-type access, suddenly you see them going down the steps and boarding via the stern ramp. What had happened was that they simply wanted to pass them through the x-ray machine at the terminal. Well done chaps, you caught the terrorists. Otherwise drivers and cars that could have been packed with explosives boarded the ship without even identification. And so the hypocricy goes on, in the "safe" world we have created.

 

If your security plan as a port is to check passengers' hand luggage only and at the same time uncontrolled drivers and vehicles board a ship, it's just preposterous. If you can't or don't want to do a proper and complete check, don't do this idiotic process just to keep up appearances, you're making a fool of yourself. Of course, if one really analyzes it, it is not in anyone's interest to perform a complete and thorough check. The ferry company on one hand would not be able to turnaround a ship of this size within an hour, due to the delays that would inevitably be created for the inspections. And neither could they impose a cut off time of 5 hours before sailing. On the other hand, the port, in order to check hundreds of cars that board each day and in fact while there are often simultaneous arrivals and departures, would have to make a huge investment in extra space, hardware for checking people, cars and trucks, as well as in human resources. Which would make the cost skyrocket. Whereas the way things are now, they employ 10 youngsters in hourly rates to do the bare necessities and pay them a sandwich and an orange juice.

 

Anyway we boarded 10 minutes before departure with the lower garage full and 3/5 full upper garage. Excellent numbers for a June sailing that takes place before Western European schools close. And this can also be seen inside the ship where before departure there was effervescence among the passengers as they try to orient themselves. Which is not easy at all as can be seen from the deck plan. The spaces added by the Australians, as well as the extensive refit done by Corsica, have created a labyrinthine ship that has no relation to her original "readable" setup. This is also the first impression when boarding the ship. The second impression has to do with the ship's readiness for the sailing. Simply put the ship was dirty. I had the misfortune of having to visit the bathroom as soon as I boarded, a bathroom that was not clean, no paper to wipe your hands when you wash them, water on the floor, etc. But how can the ship be ready when the crew is given an hour's time to prepare? And indeed with the loading following the unloading without stoppage? Humanly impossible. Capitalist society at its extreme. But I give points to the crew because you could see that there was an effort being made.

 

The next unpleasant surprise had to do with the cabin which was located forward on deck 8 if I remember correctly. So when you got to the middle of the staircase going up from deck 7 where many of the common areas are located, you suddenly felt the temperature difference. In short, the air conditioning was under-functioning, with the result that the cabin was more like a sauna than a place to relax. And unfortunately, as I said, it was an issue for the whole deck, not just our cabin. So there was no point in complaining or asking for a change on a ship that was so full. The other remarkable thing about the cabin was how one gets in hold of its key. Corsica Ferries, at least on this particular ship, when the cabin is ready the crew simply open the cabin door and place the key on the bedside table. So you walk down the cabin corridor, enter through the wide open door, and take the key from the nightstand. The instructions given to the occupants of the cabin are the same, they are asked to leave the door open and leave the key inside when vacating it. Interesting system that works on the assumption that no scoundrel gets in to hide the keys or change the cabin keys so as to intentionally create havoc. It should also be noted that we had to vacate the cabin 2 hours before arrival. Inconvenient, but understandable and expected, for the reasons I explained above.

 

In 12 sailing hours as one understands, the chances are that one will eat 1-2 times. That's why there are many options on the ship starting from deck 7 and the self service restaurant called Gusto, located behind the bow staircase and the cabins. The strange thing about this particular area is that usually the self service restaurant is also the largest catering area on a ship. In Mega Express Four it is rather small and doesn't even reach the maximum width of the ship. On the same deck (7) towards the aft portside is also Yellow's Restaurant which, judging by its layout, must also be of the self-service type, but I must confess that I did not pass by during its opening hours. For lunch we chose the restaurant-brasserie (as it describes itself) Dolce Vita. This is located aft and to the starboard of the self service, amidships. In fact, this particular restaurant is very successful and was almost full at noon when we had lunch. So much so, that they have also put out tables in the adjacent corridor. One can get a taste of the menu here, the choice of an EUR 28 of three courses turned out to be very tasty, along with some water and Pietra beer from Sardinia, we paid around EUR 35 per person.

 

Along with the dining areas of deck 7 aft there is also the large Riviera Lounge which extends over two large rooms as you can see. In fact, in the second one they have also left space for a grand piano. A common feature of the dining areas and the rest of the ship? Only one type of seats is used, they are all the same everywhere. At the starboard stern area of deck 7 there is also an area that on paper is air-type seats, but in practice it looks like this and was not used during our trip. The real space with airline seats is the one aft and starboard on deck 3. Right next to the hall on deck 7, there is also the famous winding staircase, now a trademark of the ship. Although impressive, on the other hand it doesn't seem to satisfy any basic need since as you saw, it was off-limits. Nevertheless, it has a beautiful view.

 

On deck 8, which is the other deck where the ship's life is concentrated, we have common areas at the stern 1/3 of the ship's length, the rest is cabins. There is the covered area called Main Street which must have been added by the Australians. On the left and right there are table seats, while on the right part there is also a kiosk that makes nice burgers and hot dogs in the afternoon. Two burgers, two fries and two soft drinks cost around 27 euros if I remember correctly, in fact this particular kiosk also sells ice cream while it remains open until 2030, meaning one could eat right up before arriving in Toulon. There is also the Lido Beach Bar, which serves the pool area and played Italian hits, both modern and old. In fact, at some point we even had the pleasure of hearing some crew members sing Sapore di Sale in chorus :D. Mention should also be made of a space to the right of the funnel on deck 9. It is listed as a pet toilet, but it has tables that some fellow travelers have chosen to sit on. But they were dirty both in appearance and in smell.

 

The sailing was generally quiet with a slight roll at times. An open sea voyage, without the possibility to hide behind an island. Also a basic difference compared to the Aegean where north winds prevail, is how many times the wind changed direction during the voyage. The general impression is that this is a ship that has nothing to do with the character and style with which it was built. First the Australians and now the Italians have changed it radically and nothing anymore resembles what some of us at a young age met with admiration and surprise when she was inaugurated, thinking how it is possible to have such great ships in Greece. In addition, and she is not that old in terms of age by any stretch(she is 27 years old), it appears that she is a ship which has been overused and is starting to wear out. But if I judge by how intensively and for how long in a calendar year she is used by Corsica Ferries, then it is definitely a gold mine for the Lotta family. The other question I ask myself is whether it would be worth it for any of you to build a trip around it in order to see her, but also to travel on her. Unfortunately the answer is no, in my own eyes at least, I haven't found anything enticing that makes me want to sail with her again.

 

I leave you with a video where one can see the exit of our car from the upper garage.

 

Edited by Nick the Greek
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Sunday, August 7th, 2022

 

Time for a proper recap of activities, I will focus on 2 ships that have been marking the Greek scene, both with their absence.

 

- Hottest ship of the summer? Well surely, the Olympus. So let me try and decipher for you what has happened here, I realize that for someone non-Greek trying to make sense of it all is in the sphere of the impossible. As you have perhaps seen me report in this forum, in a scandalous manner, the owners of the Olympus had taken over the Kasos - Karpathos subsidised service. The scandal is concentrated in the fact that while Sea Speed Lines had submitted the lowest bid, everyone in the market knew that they were in extremely dire straits financially, having saved the Olympus from being auctioned off only weeks before winning the bid, by the skin of their teeth. There were no qualitative criteria therefore in the tender. Opinions are divided as to what type of connections to the government Sea Speed Lines have. I tend to believe they did have some good rapport, in Greece you don't just turn up and win a subsidized service tender.

 

In the weeks that lead to the supposed take over of the service from the Prevelis, it became clear that something was not going right. The ship was moved between a couple of repair docks, remaining dark and silent during the night. Turns out of course, her owners could not afford to reactivate her, there was no cash in the coffers and guess what, sub-contractors like to be paid in advance when they know the background of the company. The start of the service fell back by a couple of weeks, a period during which the owners managed to get their hands on some cash. Rumour has it that they secured a bank loan for working capital on the back of future income from the subsidy they were awarded. If true, i'm suspecting a State owned bank is involved. In a private bank, the people who approved this loan would have been kicked out of the door by now.

 

Using this capital the owners started to make last-minute repairs and maintenance, while at the same time no crew was being signed on. The ship was towed to Neorion, Syros for drydocking for the simple reason that for them it was cheaper to tow, rather than employ people and start accruing wage bills. The drydock took place and the ship went back to Piraeus where a few days before the official start date in early July, the owners officially started to sign on crew. Apparently they were desperate and managed to sign on a hap-hazard crew using the help of the Marine Employment Office of the Coast Guard. Of course before the service was to start, the ship had to be inspected by the relevant department of the Coast Guard. The Olympus signaled readiness for inspection only on the morning the ship was supposed to commence service and with the Prevelis already at the repair yard.

 

Normally in these situations, i.e. when a ship of the company which is favoured by the Ministry is being inspected, the inspectors of the Coast Guard are sure to be lenient in their inspections. Having that in mind, the ship was in such a terrible shape that a total of allegedly 26 deficiencies were found, most of them detainable. Consequently the sailing which ought to have taken place at 1830 on that same evening, never materialised. This created a whole chain reaction from people whose holidays were ruined as well as from local communities who saw the tourist season being destroyed. The pressure was such that the Minister himself had to spring to action, already from the same afternoon. 

 

Long story short, and as official documentation has now started to appear, the Ministry declared Sea Speed Lines as not being able to comply with the requisites of the tender and summarily disqualified them, awarding the service back to the Prevelis with more than double the fee the ship was getting. Within one week normal services have resumed and the Prevelis is looking good for the time being. All this of course took place because the Ministry does not want to provide a permanent solution and insentivise the owners to provide a new and sustainable ship for the long run. Instead, they prefer the same process to take place every year. Why is that? Because for them the point is not providing a service to the islanders but satisfying their electoral clientele. The yearly process brings with it favours to be granted, re-sharing the pie, commissions and in general creates the space for under the table dealings. There are many mouths to be fed and many an extra income to be found. If they were to award the service to a newbuilding for the next 20 years, there goes the Ministry's bargaining power for the next 20 years.

 

- The second ship which is shining through her absence is the Smyrna, or Smyrna di Levante or Smyrna di Subsidy as I like to call her. Let's again take things from the beginning. When the ship arrived in Greece 3 years ago(yes, it's really been that long. She was 42 when she arrived, she is now 45), in classic Levante Ferries' fanfare we were let know by no uncertain terms that the ship was inspiring to commence a service between Thessaloniki and Izmir. During these 3 years we have been bombarded by videos, instagram posts and press with the amazing job which was being carried out and so on and so forth. Those of you into social media will surely recall. By the rythm things are moving now on this ship, the real story is that apart from some external jobs, the ship in the inside had really been a construction site. Why else would her owners be employing so many people for 16 hours per day(allegedly) over the last 2 months in order to finish up her conversion? 

 

That's for the ship itself and the hay that Levante has been feeding people. Not this forum of course. Because questions were being raised since a long time ago, such as for example if there's any agreement with Turkish road hauliers who would support the venture. Well turns out all Levante's effort in this front were unsuccessfull, with the Turkish road hauliers making clear that they will not be committing volume, perhaps due to the fact that Levante is Greek, i may add. Suddenly a couple of months ago, reports started surfacing about the fact that Levante wanted to add the port of Mytilene to the service, something which does not make much sense in that it's an extra deviation and fuel cost.

 

But this was the coup d' etat. Because this is why and how Levante are hoping to receive a staggering EUR 94k per sailing, subsidy. The theory is that the ship is sailing to Izmir but also is calling Mytilene so this being a not so popular route, why don't we as the Ministry subsidize our favourite children? Chances are therefore that after a while Izmir will be dropped altogether and the ship will be sailing from Thessaloniki to Mytilene only in a subsidized service. I remind you that during winter months the Blue Star Myconos/Diagoras are receiving a subsidy for the same service, although in the summer the ships were allowed to skip Thessaloniki and call Kavala instead. And -oh by the way- Seajets is also receiving a subsidy to call Mytilene from Thessaloniki once a week. So things are very well in Greece and healthy entrepreneurs are being rewarded for their commercial spirit. You buy a 42-year old ship with no risk, if you are a favourite son of the government, they will create a subsidy for you:rolleyes:. Needless to say, the tender which was put out in public by the tender is a photographic one and requires in detail the specific characteristics of the Smyrna, just in case someone else who is not a favourite son, has the idea to steal the food from the horse's mouth. The best part is the requirement for a ship of 150m long. On the dot. Why for example a 145m cannot do the job? 

 

I will stop here before I say something I will regret, I feel my guts turning upside down just by writing of these stories. Think now of the earlier story about the Olympus, I believe you can recognise the commonalities in how the system works. The Ministry's primary duty is to keep all the bargaining chips and spend the money as they see fit. This is the regulatory framework in Greek ferry shipping.

 

Take care and enjoy the holidays for those of you who have not had any,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Saturday, October 8th, 2022

 

After a -rather long- holiday and an -even longer- series of business trips, we're back in the groove and it's time for some commentary on the latest developments.

 

- Call it a takeover, call it a merger, call it a purchase, Attica is now officially calling the shots in whatever has to do with ANEK Lines and the fleet of the latter is at the mercy of Attica now. One thing is for sure, ANEK's Chania offices will be shut down and the staff made redundant or perhaps being offered a job in Attica's offices in Athens, God knows under what terms. The gist of it is that the way it happened with Hellenic Seaways, where only the commercial name has survived, will happen with ANEK as well. Attica is also notorious for trusting only their own crews so overall we're expecting to see a de-ANEKification of the merged entity. I have had the unfortunate experience in my professional life, to have been a part of a similar process and actually I was one of the very few who were retained by the new owners. Even so, it wasn't pretty and it's a very painful and stressful process, whichever way you experience it. The new owners usually come in with a Louis XIV mentality, believing they are the next best thing in human civilisation, after toasted bread. In the process they destroy whatever good was happening within the company they take over and instantly establish an "us successfull bunch" vs "them losers" mentality. 

 

Anyway that is only to be expected, ANEK have only themselves and their monumental mismanagement to blame for what happened to them. At this point the popular discussion would be to speculate as to which ships Attica may take over and paint in their own livery, which ships may be sold for scrapping or further trading and how the fleet will be shuffled. I beg to differ once more, here. In the case of Attica how the fleet will be deployed is a minute detail which is unable to change radically the bigger picture. And that picture is a grim one. In their fleet size and comparing to other similarly sized companies in Europe, Attica perhaps have the most energy inefficient fleet apart from the 3 new -and small- Aero Highspeeds. Even the 3 scrubber-fitted ships one can argue are big consumers if you look at the absolute numbers while the youngest one is coming up to 11 years of age. Those of you who follow the technological developments know that marine propulsion and engineering has made huge strides over that period of time.

 

Unless a proper investor who will focus on organically growing the company is found -and not a venture capitalist who will just make the package slightly more attractive in order to sell it on at a profit- Attica are in grave danger of becoming not a regional but a local player in domestic Greece who is living off State subsidies and the graceful tolerance of Grimaldi. We'll get to him in a bit, one final thought for ANEK Lines. I was always a fan of their Adriatic product, as I know are many Greeks, especially the ones who live abroad. For me stepping on to an ANEK ferry in Ancona was as good as setting your foot on Greek soil. The surroundings, the music, the people, the food at the restaurants, it was heart-warming. And the story of how ANEK were formed and how up to a certain point they remained local, was a compelling one. Unfortunately for them, when on one hand you rely too much on the protection of the State while at the same time your personnel is chosen not with merit as a primary criterion, the writing is on the wall.

 

- Grimaldi at the same time was clearly not pleased with the merger taking place and was vocal in his displeasure. But the Greek State is here to keep everybody happy. And I mean everybody involved in such processes:rolleyes:. So Grimaldi was awarded 67% of the Igoumenitsa Port Authority and is also the hot favourite for the equivalent authority of Heraklion. For Grimaldi this is a major coup. On one hand he now controls Greece's main port gateway to Europe and the Adriatic while on the other hand chances are that if he gets his hands on Heraklion, that port will be turned into a major hub for his car carrier and combi-carrier business. Obviously both major developments for the local economies, provided environmental standards are kept. But why am I worrying about that, all the control mechanisms of the Greek state will be on high alert over these being observed :D. The reason I am focusing on this point is the rumour that Igoumenitsa port might be doubling its depth so as to accommodate ships of around 20m in draft. Which smells large container vessels. I can already picture the Attica ferries cornered in the farthest from the gate dock in Igoumenitsa. I remind you that in the late 90s, the same Greek state was refusing to Superfast Ferries the possibility of operating on their own expense a double link span in Patras, as "this would spoil the competitive conditions in the port", trying to protect Minoan Lines and ANEK Lines at the time. How the tables have turned and how both these companies are in fact existing only by livery and insignia, falling victim of their own mismanagement and of that "protection".

 

- Last but not least, after 3.5 years in the Drapetsona repair dock the Smyrna di Levante was inaugurated yesterday in Piraeus and is scheduled to perform her maiden sailing on the Thessaloniki - Izmir(Smyrni) route on Monday, without the inclusion of Mytilene in the rotation. For the time being at least. A rather long awaited debut I would say, as early as the beginning of this year the company was reassuring everybody that the service would start in April at the latest. What is unclear here is whether a subsidy has been granted or not, I guess we'll find out soon enough. Remembering the spectacular flop of the Lavrion - Izmir route a couple of summers ago, in a market before the pandemic, I am wondering what type and size of traffic this service will attract. Especially from the moment Levante chose to invest many, many millions on a 45-year old ship, with all that this signifies for the economics of its employment.

 

- Here's a couple of recent night videos from our gallery, the Moby Drea and the Moby Tommy.

 

Unless World War III breaks out in the meantime, we'll be back with a summer recap next week.

 

Take care,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Saturday, October 15th, 2022

 

Today let's recap the summer which has ended, although in certain locations in Greece it's actually keeping on. As a general comment i don't think anyone can complain about the level of absolute numbers, these were stellar everywhere you look at. A record year for summer visitors in Greece, very high loading factors in the ferries, this has not been seen in a number of years. Of course the downside is the bunker prices and the overall hike in the prices in practically everything, which has shrunk profit margins for the ferry operators and the amount of money in the pocket of every bloke on the street. Which makes one think about how things would have been with the grave consequences of Covid largely behind us, and without this madness which is going on in the Ukraine.. I just hope that this time next year we will have the luxury to still talk about ferries and not trying to save ourselves from World War III.

 

- Blue Star Ferries/Hellenic Seaways surely had a great summer across the board with very high loading factors. Judging only by the fact that they chartered again the Pelagitis this summer for extra capacity and by the Blue Carrier 1 playing ping-pong across the Aegean to cover up for lorries that were stranded, gives you the picture. Of course you will hear complaints from several islands about the frequency of the sailings and/or about the routeing(sailing to Rhodes via Samos is indeed a stretch), but at the end of the day they could not give a toss, they are a monopoly in most routes.

 

- Seajets also had a great year with some of their highspeed craft continuing to sail well within October. They eliminated the highspeed competition of Aegean Speedlines, they are afforded the luxury of inter-changing their highspeed craft at will and of minimising their port stays by keeping hundrends of passengers in the garages of their highspeed craft(see previous updates) so that they can leirusely complete the ticket control, with the Coast Guard playing the idiots. OK, playing might be a harsh word:rolleyes:. And of course as usual, receiving tailor-made subsidies for the ships they cannot fit in their regular services. The gist of it is that they are becoming bigger and stronger by the year, being able to have their every wish satisfied by the authorities. La vie est belle:rolleyes:

 

- Grimaldi had a quiet summer I would say and making money, they are. At the same time the fact that they keep re-shuffling their timetables and service patterns in the Piraeus - Chania route indicates to me that they are not yet quite happy about the results of their efforts. They got their Neapolitan hands on the port of Igoumenitsa though and if they do the same with Heraklion as the writing on the wall says, they will have had a great year in Greece. Also one has to admit they were not as bad as last year in terms of their timetables in the Adriatic, they had no more delays and hickups than the others. Anyway, after the national railway company, it looks like we will have 3 companies in Greece under Italian management, curious to see how that is going to go.

 

- ANEK Lines is no more, it's pointless to make any comment about their summer. Let's just say that many of us will remember them with fondness not only because of their level of service but also about the variety, looks and quality of the tonnage they have showcased in Greece over the years.

 

- Fast Ferries had their usual successful summer as far as I can tell, they have a tried and tested recipe which they are just tweaking every now and then. Reliabiity, punctuality and fit for purpose, quality ships are the main things they offer. There is discussion going on about the Thunder though, the fast ferry that has sailed between Piraeus, Syros, Mykonos and Naxos for the second summer in a row. I do think she made money but perhaps not as much as her owners would have hoped for, therefore I'm actually curious about if there will be any changes in her trading pattern for next year.

 

- Following last year's rationalisation effort, this year Golden Star Ferries consolidated their position in the routes they operated in with the Superexpress having a particularly successful year, despite the engine issue she suffered towards the latter stages of the season. The news for them is the arrival and conversion of the Andros Queen and the signs are that at least for next summer the ship will become their second conventional ferry in their usual Rafina to Mykonos route. And let's see if the results will justify their decision. 

 

- Zante Ferries had a very busy summer as well, especially the Dionisios Solomos which is the only conventional ferry now left in the Western Cyclades routes, apart from Milos that is. Friends who tried to sail on her were telling me that especially her garage space was filled up all the time. So all in all if they did not make money this year, I just don't know when they will do so. At the same time rumours keep persisting that the Dionisios Solomos will be sold off, perhaps to Seajets, and you know what they say about smoke and fire.

 

- Not much to say about Levante Ferries' domestic affairs, they are a monopoly and the 3 islands they serve are dancing to the rhythm of the drum they are beating. We have talked in length as well about the Smyrna di Levante story, I have the impression that a huge amount of resources have gone into this project. And I believe this is what at the end of the day will make or break their year. We shall see in the coming months if they have managed to attract enough traffic and -most importantly for them- if they have managed to secure another scandalous State subsidy.

 

- Ventouris Ferries have also been pretty quiet this year, as always one can argue. So not much I can say about their summer, strategically though and looking at how Adria Ferries have managed to consolidate their presence in the Ancona - Durres route all through the year, maybe this is a missed opportunity for them.

 

Leaving the summer results aside, all Greek companies are at a crossroads whether they realise it or not. The challenges ahead are plenty both in terms of economic survival but also in terms of fleet renewal and compliance with the complex web of international and EU regulations. Even for some of these regulations the government has managed to secure a short-term exemption, there ain't no escaping from the future.

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Saturday, October 22nd, 2022

 

In the aftermath of Attica swallowing up ANEK Lines, looks as if there are many more things to come this winter.

 

- There has been a lot of press as you can imagine around what's up next and it all revolves around the fact that Attica will need an injection of cash while of course the banks will require the repayment of all the loans that are attached to the enlarged entity. And the speculation is that Attica has already put up the "For Sale" sign against all their silverware. And when we talk about silverware the general consensus is we're talking about any of the Superfast XI, Olympic Champion/Hellenic Spirit, Superfast I/II and perhaps the Elyros. And that's on top of whatever clearing out they might perform with ANEK's older fleet units. You don't need me to tell you that Grimaldi is hotly tipped to be interested in the silverware, in fact sumour has it that the sale of the Superfast XI to him at least, is already a done deal. Which is no surprise, Grimaldi are the only real buyer out there now. Other companies have their own financial troubles to deal with, others have embarked on green technology newbuilding programmes and have the financing cost of these units to be worried about, add the inflation and the recession which is already coming hard and fast up our rear ends, not many takers out there in fact.

 

The situation reminds me of the Bundesliga, the German football premier division. On a competitive level for the silverware, this league is even more boring than Scotland. At least there are usually 2 contenders in Scotland, in the Bundesliga there's only Bayern Munich. And the other Bundesliga clubs make a point of selling their best assets in the form of players and even coaches to their primary rival each and every summer. And that's at the right price for the buyer. This is the best analogy of what I think is happening with Grimaldi and Attica. They pretend to be competition, in reality they are at the mercy of the Neapolitan giant. Those of you who've been reading this space from the start may remember me saying that the only reason Attica are alive is because Grimaldi allows them to. And I believe this to be true, now more than ever. The gist of it is that if Attica were to sell some of their Adriatic silverware to Grimaldi, then de facto they would have to withdraw from that market. Which would make the Adriatic, "mare nostrum" for the Italian company and a nightmarish monopoly for passenger public and road transport companies alike. For Attica as things stand now, this is slow death. And unless an investor is found, chances are they will end up being swallowed up by Grimaldi.

 

- In other Grimaldi-related news, I had expressed my questions about what will happen with Fast Ferries' Thunder next year. Her owners spared us the trouble of guessing all winter: the fast ferry will be sailing from Piraeus to Syros - Mykonos - Paros - Ios - Santorini - Heraklion in co-operation with Grimaldi Lines' Santorini Palace. So the tandem will be offering a morning sailing from Piraeus and Heraklion to the other direction. The information that I have is that this is not a takeover, this is not a joint service. It is a just a loose co-operation using in most cases the same network of agents in order for a daily service to be established and obviously help the bottomline of both companies. I was a big fan of Thunder's late morning departures from Piraeus, now the time will be 0900hrs from Piraeus and 0700hrs from Heraklion. I think this is a good move which will boost the loading factors of the Thunder. She has seen some success so far the last couple of years, obviously her owners want more. 

 

- Another intriguing development this week is the fast that the sinful Ministry of Mercantile Marine have not renewed the agreement for the Prevelis on the Piraeus - Milos - Santorini - Crete - Kasos - Karpathos - Rhodes service, thus there was no sailing last night. Attica are rumoured to be interested with the Blue Star Chios and in fact there have been contradicting statements by their management regarding if they have submitted an offer or not. Long story short, as ever, the Ministry and Attica are surely trying to work out how the service will be awarded to them.

 

- Last but not least and following the usual fanfare that reminds us of the Soviet era, the Smyrna di Levante has commenced sailings in the Thessaloniki - Smyrna route. The traffic figures are unknown for the time being, as is whether she is receiving any subsidy for this. Thanking them for the invitation to the inauguration, here is the full monty of the ship's interiors.

 

Take care,

Nikos, Piraeus.

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Monday, October 31st, 2022

 

With not much happening during the last week or so, thought it would be interesting to share my best travel experience in a long, long time, which took place on board GNV's Rhapsody last summer. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, and sip everything in:

 

The former Napoleon Bonaparte carried a royal name when she was with SNCM. However, from the moment she passed into the hands of GNV and took the colourless name Rhapsody, she has become the company's wild card, presumably making it a lot of money for her owners. Loads of charters like a hotel ship for policemen in Spain, for workers in France, for workers in the Caribbean, for officials in Western Sahara, for the G7 in Sicily and who knows what else we haven't taken notice of. She even sailed the Bari - Durres route. In other words, I consider myself somewhat justified in fearing before sailing on her last summer, that the ship would be not in such great shape, as far as her interiors were concerned.

 

So when boarding at the end of last June from Genova to Olbia I was carrying a very small basket. In the end I had to take the biggest basket I could carry because the ship turned out to be the best I've traveled on during the last 15 years. An amazing travel experience which I will try to convey in the following paragraphs. In fact, talking to a French friend of mine, his comment was that "the ship is so good, because it was built with the money of the French taxpayer and SNCM were not shy in spending it". Quite so. But it was worth it in the end, they created a great ship. Because even in Italy, Tirrenia has built many ships with the money of the Italian taxpayer, but compared to the Bonaparte its ships are mediocre to say the least. So drop whatever you're doing :D, and let's go check the Rhapsody out.

 

So Wednesday afternoon in Genova, a bunch of ships in port (only some of which you see here) and unfortunately for us 2 ships bound for Τunisia. And I say this because the port space is limited and with the amount of controls and scrutiny that is done on the private cars for this destination, a huge congestion is created in and out of the port, long queues and overcrowding, married with disorganization and lack of a cool head by part of the port officiails. Finally we managed to board the ship around an hour and a half before its scheduled departure (1900) which took place with a half hour delay due to waiting for vehicles that were delayed as a result of the situation I described earlier.

 

The first contact with the ship was the staircases, also of the winding type, the latter giving a special touch. In fact at my point of entry, in the center of the ship there was also a type of atrium that extended over 4 decks. Looking up you saw this huge stained glass, looking down you saw seats arranged around a tree. In between there were also places to sit, a cozy spot for the night, if you don't have a cabin. Talking about a cabin, through this corridor we proceeded to our humble, two-bed interior cabin. Nothing fancy but she was well maintained and quite spacious, certainly better than some of the newer ships I've been on. The ship I think has over 550 cabins that are divided into 4 decks, 3 of them exclusively dedicated to them.

 

Leaving the cabin, we first walk around the outer decks. There is a side deck that encloses 3/4 of the ship, the one we see here. Its most interesting parts are the point where it joins the atrium we saw above and its stern part. As you can see when the ship is tied up one can see the loading, but when the ship is sailing the view to the stern is blocked by the stern ramps. No problem though, Bonaparte's shipbuilders compensate the passenger public by offering this space, two decks above. I've included the interior photo so someone can see what this space looks like, which includes the ship's outdoor bar, under the shadow of the majestic funnels. The night photos are taken quite late in the evening, the real picture is the day photo. Many people, music, sun, fun and relaxation.

 

But the outside spaces don't stop here, there is also a central part with panoramic view. It is deck 11 or Helios deck, from the name alone you can understand what it means. Here we are looking towards the forward part and the main mast of the ship. Here we are looking towards the stern and the twin funnels. Between the funnels and the Helios deck, however, there is also deck 10 or La Riviera deck where one can sunbathe between the windshields. I was surprised by this whole setup because when you see the ship from ashore you don't realize the extent of the exterior spaces.

 

But let's go inside now. I start with the forward section of deck 6 where there are 2 lounges with airline seats. Both are interior and without natural light, I dare say it's the only area of the ship that I didn't like. But when you have so many cabins, you focus on selling the cabins and not on giving alternatives to passengers. Right next to these rooms there is also a charging station for electronic devices. Of course there is a children's play area , there are other areas either for lying down or for laying down a sleeping bag, there is a shop with useful items and souvenirs, there is a conference area called Agora and of course there is also the ship's club called Galaxie Disco. As you see the ship from the bow, it is the glass surface that spans 2 decks and is located directly above the bridge of the ship. Unfortunately during my trip it was not open so we could not have an impression of what it looks like. Let's not forget the interior bar of the ship, you get there through this wide corridor coming from the outside bar. There is the area for the pool and the jacuzzi, all indoors.

 

And what about food? So here we can examine the options offered by the Rhapsody, this is one of the the strongest parts of the ship. First of all, if one does not want to sit somewhere and prefers something more economical, this option is available. So here's the little creperie of the ship that sells nutella donuts too, let alone the crepes. It works normally, its just the photo which is taken very late in the evening. The same applies to the self-service of the ship called Le Surf. Abiding by the standards of so many other similar spaces we see on ferries, it is large and spacious. In fact, there are offers that lower the prices even more, both for adults and for children. It looks like a pretty value for money choice.

 

If someone wants to spend some more money on dining and likes the extra comfort, the Bonapart raises the stakes. And this is because the ship has 2 a la carte restaurants that share the same kitchen and in part the same space. The first restaurant is called La Poele Gourmande, looking at the stern, while the second restaurant is called Le Sillage d'Argent and her interior looks like this. For the sake of comparison I'm attaching the menu of the second one. As you can see the prices are not outrageous, the most expensive bottle of wine is EUR 23. I believe overall the prices to be affordable for the average traveller.

 

But we're not done with the food options, and that's because the ship has - as befits any Italian-owned ship - a pizzeria. And when I say pizzeria I mean a normal pizza oven with dough that's prepared on the spot, not anything frozen that they just heat up. It was like eating in a good pizzeria ashore and easily the best pizza I've eaten on a ship, well worth the money. The pizzeria is called Le Montparnasse, I would have preferred an Italian name here. You can take a look at the menu, 2 pizze diavola together with 2 Peroni Gran Reserva beers and 1 bottle of water cost around EUR 42, so 21 per person. Taking into account the quality of the food and the fact that you are on a ship, we are talking about great value for money, we really liked it. The pizzeria probably stands as an intermediate option for those who don't like the self-service but don't want to pay a la carte either, plus it's a popular choice for families with young children.

 

We took our walks onboard, we admired the Rhapsody, we gathered sun, we enjoyed the sea view, we ate our pizza, we drank our beer, what else would we do if we were on land? We would go for a drink, wouldn't we? So yes, you got the hint and the Bonaparte's shipbuilder has taken care of that too. So let's go to the area located right below and around the funnels, it's called La Vigie and it's the ship's piano bar with magnificent views around the ship. You can choose a coffee table at the perimeter, one of these interesting coffee tables, or something that faces the interior. There was also an artist as you can see who sang very nicely, not like his peers on board Grimaldi ships. We ordered drinks at the bar, they were normal drinks like you would drink in a nice bar in town, not poisons made at sea. So that's how the night ended, people at the bar, music, drinks and a view such as this.

 

Earlier in the day, we had seen the Rhapsody during its arrival in Genova from Olbia. Big, yes. Impressive, yes. Something very unique, yes. Now that I've travelled on her, I confess that I fell in love with the ship. The definition of a cruise ferry. Nice cabins(next time I will try a better one), large interiors with simple and not sophisticated decoration, extensive outdoor spaces for the summer, 5 dining options plus the two bars, multiple options for entertainment, what more could you ask for? Those of you who find yourself abroad and can travel with her, don't miss the opportunity. Those of you planning a ferry trip, build it around a sailing on her. If you're looking for something more classy than the trite and colourless modern ferries, I don't think the Bonaparte will disappoint you.

 

Wrapping it up with the following video where you can watch our car exiting the ship. The main garage is obviously dedicated to trucks, the upper garage has the lofts lowered - probably permanently - and is dedicated to private cars. We parked in this garage, quite good organization during loading. Unloading took a little longer but it was reasonable if one takes into account the amount of traffic on board the ship.

 

 

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Saturday, November 12th, 2022

 

Let's go for another trip report today, before my summer travels get old. This time it Grimaldi Lines' Corfu, sailing from Cagliari to Napoli.

 

But in this case it is also interesting to see the buildup tothe trip. So we start the description at 1430 hours in Olbia, which is about 3 hours away from Cagliari, from where the Corfu departs at 1900 for Napoli on a Thursday night. It is the last day of the previous June. We're driving with no rush, aiming at arriving in Cagliari 1.5 hours before departure. About an hour away from Cagliari, suddenly the motorway freezes, traffic stops, people out of their cars, fire brigade, etc. So someone either didn't maintain their car properly, or had serious enemies:D, resulting in a car being torched on the highway. As a result we lost quite a bit of time there, so we needed to make a strong push and step on it, in order to catch the ship. We did well, so around 1820 we arrive at boarding gate, happy ending. Or so we thought.

 

Our time comes to check in, the employee sees our reservations, there is a problem. Our car number plate is different from the one shown on the reservation. Quite so, because when we booked the tickets we didn't know what car we were going to have with us. He doesn't accept this excuse at all, he sends us back to the ticket office to change the reservation. Here I must say that the car did not change ticket category, i.e. we had not booked a Smart and we showed up with a Porsche Cayenne. On this particular trip we did 4 sea passages in total and were not checked for a license plate on any of the previous crossings, not even in the past as many times as I have traveled with Grimaldi itself, I have not seen such a thing being checked. Anyway by the letter of the law he is right, so muttering unpleasant things between my teeth:rolleyes:, we turn around and look for the ticket office. With departure time quickly approaching we had to play the Dukes of Hazard, so after dozens of violations of the road traffic code and 2 entrances in a one-way street in the opposite direction, we find the ticket officee which is literally 150 meters from boarding gate. But is only accessible through another gate of the port. Instead of opening a passage for people to be able to walk to the ticket office, one has to make a tour of Cagliari by car to get there.

 

Stormed into the ticket office, the time is already 1840, and I'm thinking that by the timw they get into the online system to change the details of the license plate, to print it again etc, we'll miss the departure. I tell the employee what I want, she asks me to spell out the correct license plate. And to my amazement she takes a Bic pen, notes the correct lisence plate on the printed reservation, puts a stamp and tells me "ready Sir" :D. All this hassle so that they could insert a hand scribble on the reservation. Whatever, we scramble for the boarding gate. We get there, we are the last in a queue of 2-3 cars. A girl is coming to check us out this time. She doesn't even bother to look at the "renewed" reservation, she only looks at our passports, so basically all this back and forth was for nothing. And here comes the other laugh. Two passengers in the car, one with a shaved head, the other with thick hair. She looks at the passport of the guy with hair, takes a peak inside the car, and gives the passport to the man with the shaved head, telling him it's his passport. They must have heard us laughing all the way to Piraeus. The lady was talented and perceptive, she deserves a career with the forensic department of the Police:D. So all in all, boarding at 1850 for the upper garage which was 2/3 full with cars. Looking at the other outside spaces, the ship has an observation deck and side corridors.

 

So we pop into the lounges of the ship minutes before departure. Weird picture, crew in disarray, running around like headless chickens. Passengers with luggage standing in the aisles, children crying, passengers shouting and protesting. The whole scene reminded me of colonial era movies, where a liner is tied up in the port of Bombay and dozens of stevedores and servants are carrying suitcases, loading goods, and generally there is a chaotic situation. What had happened? The ship had sailed to Cagliari in the morning of the same day at 1000, so she had spent the whole day alongside. Well, the crew hadn't cleaned cabins, changed sheets etc during the entire day, this was done at the same time as departure. With the consequence that passengers are obviously embarking and there are no cabins ready for them. A blatantly unacceptable situation, I have never seen this before in my ferry travels. Why this happened, I don't know. With my suspicious mind, I assume that because we are in Sardinia and there's beaches all around, the crew had spent the day in one of them. That's pure speculation on my part of course. Whatever the case may be though, the scenes that we saw when boarding the ship were a disgrace.

 

The ship's aft part of the accommodation block has more spaces compared to other Visentini, being one of those where the upper garage fits cars and not trucks. This includes the Reception, notice the complaint box in the photo, it's full of papers that apparently none of the crew have been bothered to collect:D. There is also a blind area with some chairs and a vending machine. Amidships one can see the main lounge with the only bar, the photo is from the next morning. If you observe well, you will see how dirty the place is from the remains of breakfast, no crew member was cleaning the area and at the same time the passengers themselves were not bothering to throw their litter inside the bins. I remember that the table where we sat was littered with rubbish, a very ugly sight. There is also a small shop, as well as another lounge that closes late in the evening.

 

At the forward part of the accomodation block we have the a la carte restaurant on the left and the self service on the right, notice exactly the same seats in both of them, as happens with the seats in the rest of the ship. By the time we went to sit down for dinner, the self service was completely full so a la carte was the only option. The food was pretty decent both in terms of quality and quantity, of course along with some Ichnusa beers it cost about EUR 30 per person if I remember correctly. Here too there was fun to be had. One could only pay with a credit card by going to the self service cashier. I went there too, by the way the entire crew was speaking between them the Neapolitan dialect which is a very distant cousin to mainstream Italian. To the point where I wondered if they would understand me. I asked to pay by card, turns out there is only one crew member who knows how to handle these requests:P but he had gone inside the kitchen. The other crew members started then shouting his name and making an unbelievable amount of noise, it felt as if one was in an open air market where sellers are competing in who's gonna shout louder and sell his products.

 

Time for bed though, we take the stairs to the cabin which takes us out into the corridor with the worst quality laminate I have ever seen. When we made the reservation if my memory serves me correctly, the system did not give us the option of a 2-bed cabin, maybe because they don't want to leave beds unused. So not wanting to risk the possibility of sharing our sleep with two other strangers, we made the investment in a lux cabin, I think the ship has two of these in total. And as far as I remember it wasn't at a terrible extra cost. Don't imagine something luxurious, in terms of equipment and finishing it reminded me of a cheap Chinese bulk carrier. Luckily these cabins are not sold very often on that ship so it was ready for use when we embarked, we didn't have to wait like the rest of the passengers. Buying this particular cabin also offers some awesome benefits:rolleyes:, free croissant or small sweet from the bar during breakfast.

 

This trip took place the night after our Genova - Olbia trip on the Rhapsody, so comparisons were inevitable. Of course we did not expect anything similar to Rhapsody, the choice of the Corfu on this trip was clearly made because it suited our travel schedule. Having the experience of traveling on the Corfu, I can unequivocally say that there is absolutely no reason to choose this particular ship for your trip, if you have another choice. As far as the interior and spaces are concerned, it is as Spartan as possible. And fair, decoration and materials is in the eye of the beholder and a judgement based on someone's aesthetics. Laminate may remind me of dodgy karaoke bars in the Philippines in terms of decor quality, but I can understand someone who might consider it Buckingham Palace level. What does not fall into the realm of personal aesthetics is the whole image of the ship, crew and overall travel experience, on and off the ship. This company is absolutely incapable of inspiring any feeling of trust and respect in you. On the contrary, especially observing the crew and the modus operandi on and off the ship, you feel that everything is left to their own devices and that as a passenger you're treated slightly better than cattle. I hope that in the coming years there will be a quality alternative to the various lines they operate in, so that no one is forced to travel with Grimaldi Lines.

 

Best wishes,

Nikos, Piraeus

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