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F/B Espresso Venezia
Photo © Michele Lulurgas, Ancona port, 11/08/94 #17
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Ship |
Espresso Venezia (1990) |
Building Spec. |
Cantieri Navali Luigi Orlando, Leghorn,
Italy, 1978 – N° 146 |
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Call Sign |
IBVO |
IMO
Number |
7521663 |
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GRT |
8.069 |
DWT |
2.250 |
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Dimensions |
125,7 x 18,5 x 5,21 |
Engines |
2 Fiat – GMT 12c, 11.033 kW |
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Speed |
21
knots |
Passengers |
953 |
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Beds |
395 |
Cars |
320 |
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Lane
Metres |
400 |
Sister
Ships |
Express Pegasus Grecia († Aliaga, 2010) |
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Registry
Port |
Venice |
Flag |
Italian |
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Former
Names/Own. |
Espresso
Ravenna – Adriatica Navigazione 1978-90 Chartered to Tirrenia Navigazione 1978-90 |
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New Names/Own. |
Venezia
– Halkydon Shipping Agemar
2003-10 Scrapped
at Aliaga on October 2010 as “Venezia”. |
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Line |
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Last ferry of “espressi” ro/pax series and last but two of passenger ferries built at
Orlando yards of Leghorn (the last two were the Corsica Sardinia Ferries
sisters “Mega Express” and “Mega Express Two”, launched 23 years after, in
2001, just before the bankruptcy of the yard), started sailing in 1978, but not
for her registered owner, Adriatica, but for Tirrenia di Navigazione, the
parent company which chartered her. Mainly employed on Genoa – Arbatax service, Leghorn – Porto Torres and the service to
Malta, even if she was employed on almost all Tirrenia
routes before her redelivery to Adriatica, dated
1990. That year we can see a curious change of identità
between the most recent sisters; this ferry leaves the name “Espresso Ravenna”,
which was painted for 12 years on her hull, to bear the name “Espresso
Venezia”, stoling it from the sister which was sold
definitively to Tirrenia and renamed “Espresso
Malta”. Deployed on Brindisi – Greece routes, she remained on that service
until the delivery of the new “Laurana”. The
replacement anyway was not a lucky choice: the newer ferry, was not only far
slower and less manoeuvrable, but also with unsatisfactory and outdated
interiors, all facts that would cause the decline of Adtiatica,
passing from three ferries of Brindisi – Greece services in 1992 to the pair of
1996m then to a single ship service until 2000, when Adriatica
ceased its Greece services. Coming back to our “Espresso Venezia”, was
redeployed to Balkan services in 1992, mainly sailing out of Ancona to Croatia
(Split and Dubrovnik sailing from Bari), Montenegro (Bar) and Albania (Durres).
On summer 2003 was sold to Halkydon Shipping, which
already owned the former “Espresso Grecia”, being deployed on Trieste – Durres
line with the name “Venezia”, a great effort of fantasy made by the new owner.
The sale of the ferry caused the usual Italian-style polemic, even if for a
good reason; in fact the ferry was sold to Halkydon Shipping by private negotiation and not by a
public auction, required for all the State-owned goods. I think that “Espresso
Venezia” sale was another consistent loss for Adriatica
fleet, this because of her good on-board services (it seems also swimming pool)
and probably also because she’s from Leghorn and I’m from Florence, so we’re
neighbours and I’m more disappointed!
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Chris Howell’s
collection |
Commis’s collection |
TIRRENIA NAVIGAZIONE – Espresso Ravenna (1978-1990)
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Ancona, 03/01/2001 |
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Gunnar Menzer |
Michele Lulurgas |
ADRIATICA – Espresso Venezia (1990-2003)
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Trieste, 12/11/2004 |
Trieste, 12/11/2004 |
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Giovanni Pirodda |
Giovanni Pirodda |
HALKYDON SHIPPING – Venezia (2003)