F/B Ionian King - Kingstown

F/B IONIAN KING

Photo © Michele Lulurgas, Piraeus, 17/08/05 #2538edited by Ilaria Scognamillo

Ship	Ionian King (2004)	Building Spec.	1991 at Ishikawajima Harima (I.H.I.) yards, Tokyo, Japan, N° 3012
Call Sign	C4CJ2	IMO Number	9006629
GRT	19.904	DWT	7.689
Dimensions	192,91 x 29,40 x 6,75	Engines	2 Pielstick 8c, 19.417 kW
Speed	21,8 knots	Passengers	1.000
Beds	354 in 64 cabins, 196 couchettes	Cars	452
Lane Metres	1.860	Sister ships	Ferry Azalea Ferry Shirakaba Ionian Queen
Registry Port	Kingstown 2004-05 Limassol 2005à	Flag	St. Vincent & Grenadines 2004-05 Cyprus 2005à
Former Owners	Shin Nihonkai Ferry 1991-04	Former Names	Ferry Lavender 1991-04
New Owners		New Names
Line	Bari – Igoumenitsa – Patras

Second vessel of the splendid four-sisters series delivered by I.H.I., started the Maizuru (Honshu) – Otaru (Hokkaido) service in 1991, saling along with the sister “New Akashia”, and the “Ferry Lilac”, actually employed between the Philippines. Was bought by Agoudimos Lines in Novembre 2004; she is the second Japanese ferry bought by the Greek company during its life (the first one was the “Ionian Sky”, which was bought some months earlier), but was the first which was brought in Greece directly by this company. As the biggest Japanese ferry ever arrived in Greece, she started her refitting work at Perama soon after her arrival in Greece, on January 2005, being redelivered to the company at the end of August. The differences between her and the sister “Ionian Queen” are noticeable starting from garage decks: also on this ferry was put a stern starboard ramp which leads directly to the upper trailer deck; this was necessary because the two I.H.I. sisters originally hadn’t any ramp between the two 4,20m height garages. The access to the upper garage was allowed by two doors on port and starboard side, which, differently from what was done on “Ionian Queen”, weren’t welded. Another difference with the “Ionian Queen” is that on the starboard ramp wasn’t built the passenger entrance, a work which, anyway, seems to be stated for her first maintenance stop. Above the garages, the interior spaces have basically the same layout of the sister; anyway the “Ionian Queen” has much more modern interiors while the “Ionian King” instead has a more classic and luxurious design. It is difficult to say what is the best one among these ferries: my opinion is that anyone should consider it according to his own tastes, being far better the “Queen” among the “King” on some features and viceversa. The first months of Agoudimos Lines’s service from Bari are rumoured to be very successful, basically because of the very competitive prices on cargo traffic, causing some trouble to the other operator on that line, Attica Enterprises’s subsidiary Blue Star Ferries.