MS Kriti I

Kriti I at Piraeus on August 14, 2008.
History
Name	New Suzuran (1979–1996) Kriti I (1996–present)
Namesake	Island of Crete
Owner	1979–1996: Shin-Nipponkai Ferry 1996–Present: ANEK Lines
Operator	1979–1996: Shin-Nipponkai Ferry 1996–2013: ANEK Lines 2013–2013: Go in Sardinia 2013–2016: ANEK Lines 2016–2016: Blue Star Ferries 2017–2019: Grandi Navi Veloci 2019–present: ANEK Lines
Port of registry	1996–Present: Chania, Greece
Builder	Koyo Dockyard, Japan
Yard number	828
Laid down	23 November 1978
Launched	22 February 1979
Completed	19 May 1979
Maiden voyage	1979
In service	1979
Identification	IMO number: 7814046 Call sign: SZRD MMSI number: 237022000
Status	Laid up
General characteristics
Type	Ro-pax ferry
Tonnage	27,239 GT 5,398 DWT
Length	191.8 m (629 ft 3 in)
Beam	29 m (95 ft 2 in)
Draft	6.4 m (21 ft 0 in)
Installed power	2 Mitsubishi-MAN combined 16V52/55KW
Propulsion	2 propellers 3 bow thrusters 1 stern thruster
Speed	Service 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Capacity	1,500 passengers 468 berths 650 cars 1,700 lane meters

MS Kriti I is a RO/PAX ship owned and operated by ANEK Lines. Along with El. Venizelos and her sister ship Kriti II she is the oldest ship in the fleet of ANEK Lines. The ship was built in 1979 at Koyo Dockyard, Japan and her original name was New Suzuran.

Service history

Kriti I

New Suzuran, with her sister ship New Yukari, were bought from ANEK Lines in 1996. The constructions became in Perama, Greece in 1996. After the construction the new Kriti I, with her sister ship Kriti II, served on the Patras–Igoumenitsa–Corfu–Trieste route for many years. After the arrivals of the newest ships of ANEK Lines, the Japanese ferries Lefka Ori and Sophocles Venizelos, Kriti I with her sister ship Kriti II were transferred to the Piraeus–Heraklion route. Kriti I also performed many replacements for other ships on other routes such as the Patras–Igoumenitsa–Corfu–Venice route. In 2013, the ship was chartered to an Italian company and operated on the Livorno–Olbia route but was unsuccessful due to mechanical damage. The ship, after the chartering, returned to the Piraeus–Heraklion route but again was chartered, this time to a Russian company. The ship went to Novorossiysk but never entered service and returned to Piraeus. The ship was laid-up many times and eventually, in mid-2016 Blue Star Ferries chartered it for the Piraeus–Dodecanese route for summer months only. Eventually in 2017 Kriti I was again chartered by Grandi Navi Veloci. In Italy the ship operated on the Civitavecchia–Termini Imerese route with Splendid. The ship was chartered for three years and in December 2019 Kriti I returned to Piraeus and has been laid-up since then at Perama. After a refit Kriti I re-entered service on the Piraeus-Heraklion route.

External links

• Media related to IMO 7814046 at Wikimedia Commons