Asterion II

Asterion II is a Greek ferry, which is the newest ship, being part of ANEK Lines fleet. She is a motor Ro-Ro/Passenger ferryboat, build in 1991 at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at Kobe, Japan and put into service by ANEK at 2018 (previously operated under different names and owners). She holds a total of 720 passengers,[1] 840 cars and 117 trucks and has 451 beds for passengers. She has two 14-cyl MAN-B&W-Mitsubishi 14V52/55B engines,[2][3] with combined power of 18,460 kW[2] and reaches speeds of up to 22 knots.[4] She was named after Asterion of Crete, a mythical king of Crete and has the flag of Cyprus, making it the only ship of the fleet with a non-Greek flag. It also features 3 Daihatsu 6DL-28 electric engines of 1,800 ps each (5,400ps) and 3 1500KVA FEK55E-10 generators.[1] The ship belongs to the Sing-Lloyd class.[1]

Asterion II entering Patra's port at 2018
History
 Greece,  Cyprus
Name: Asterion II
Namesake: Asterion of Crete
Owner: Alphaglobe Shipping Ltd, Limassol,  Cyprus
Operator: ANEK Lines
Port of registry: Limassol,  Cyprus
Route: Patras-Igoumenitsa-Venice
Builder: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kobe, Japan
Launched: 8 November 1990
Maiden voyage: March 1991
Identification:

Callsign: 5BYX4 IMO: 8922163

MMSI: 209262000
Status: In service
General characteristics
Type: Ro-pax ferry
Tonnage:

GRT: 31804

Summer DWT: 6368 t
Length: 192 m (630 ft)
Beam: 27 m (89 ft)
Height: 6.7 m (22 ft)
Draught: 6.6 m (22 ft)
Ramps: Three (one in the stern, two on the starboard side)
Speed: 22 knots

History

1990-2011, Construction and first years[3]

The ship was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kobe, Japan. She was launched on 8 November 1990. The ship was originally named Ishikari after a city in Hokkaido and had to replace an older ship named Ishikari, who was sold in Strintzis Lines by 1990.[5] 7. Delivered on 18 March 1998 at Taiheiyō Ferry (Pacific Ferry Co). She was routed on the line Nagoya - Sendai - Tomakomai, but was also used as a cruiser on the Ogasawara islands.

2010-Today[3][6][7]

In March 2011, she was sold to Golden Spring Enterprise, Panama and Chinese Wanfang International Shipmanagement and renamed to GRAND SPRING for an amount of $8 million.[8] After its purchase, modernization and maintenance works took place.[8] At this time, she was routed on Wehai-Pyoengtaek line, connecting China with South Korea, before moving to Great Promise Industrial HK, Panama in February 2012. In 2015, she was laid up in Weihai, China and in February 2016 she raised the Sierra Leone flag, with Freetown being its homeport. At this time, South Korean Gwangyang Line planned to route her in the Gwangyang-Shimonosheki line, connecting South Korea with Japan. However, the project failed and the ship was completely abandoned.

In 27 March 2018, she was sold to Alphaglobe Shipping Ltd, Limassol, Cyprus, with management by ANEK Lines from and renamed to ASTERION II . She was then went to Greece one month later, and on 22 April, arrived in Perama, where it was rebuilt to the European standards, repaired and refurbished. The retrofit was performed by Naval Works Voudouris Ltd.[9] Once most of the work was completed, the ship was dryrocked and painted in the ANEK LINES livery. On 18 June the ship departed for the port of Patras where for a few days, the retrofit continued. On 28 June, after a few postponements, it went into service replacing Asterion, which was chartered on Britanny Ferries, and Elyros, which was routed here temporary, before chartering in Algerie Ferries.

Route[6]

Asterion II serves the ferry line Patras-Igoumenitsa-Venice

Asterion II as Ishikari in Japan (2006).

References
  1. "Agonas Tis Kritis article for Asterion II". Αγώνας της Κρήτης (in Greek). 25 July 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  2. "M/S ISHIKARI (1991)". www.faktaomfartyg.se. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  3. Roussos, Spyros (24 April 2018). "Asterion II arrival in Piraeus". Nautilia.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  4. "F/B Asterion II". Anek Lines Italia. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  5. "Faktaomfartyg". www.faktaomfartyg.se. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  6. "Asterion ΙΙ article from Elliniki Aktoploia". Ελληνική Ακτοπλοϊα (in Greek). 29 June 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  7. "ASTERION II arrival in Perama" (in Greek). Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  8. "Asterion II starting trips in the Mediterranean". Flashnews.gr. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  9. "Asterion II - VoudourisGroup.gr". www.voudourisgroup.gr. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
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