F/B King Minos - Limassol

F/B KING MINOS

Photo by courtesy of EFOPLISTIS magazine

Ship	King Minos (1987)	Building Spec.	1972 at Kanasashi yards, Shimizu, Japan N° 1015
Call Sign		IMO Number	7214521
GRT	10.164	DWT	3.859
Dimensions	155 x 22,8 x 6	Engines	2 Kawasaki MAN 18c, 14.386 kW
Speed	19 knots	Passengers	1.800
Beds	1.008 in 250 cabins	Cars	500
Lane Metres	700	Sister Ships	Ming Fai Princess
Registry Port	Limassol	Flag	Cyprus
Former Owners	Nippon Enkai Ferry 1972-87 Minoan Lines 1987-02	Former Names	Erimo Maru 1972-87
New Owners	Co.Ma.Nav. 2004 (charter) Namma Lines 2004à	New Names	Mawaddah 2004à
Line

Introduced on the service Ancona - Corfu - Igoumenitsa - Patras in 1988, was the bigger ship on the line, considerably bigger of “El Greco”, “Fedra” and “Daedalus”, which entered the line three years later. From 1992 was substituted on international lines by the “El Greco” and transferred to the Piraeus - Heraklion link together with her sister “N. Kazantzakis”, the flagship of the Heraklion-based company. After her arrest due to safety problems in October 2000, the ship was back to Heraklion line, performing the service until May 2001 when, substituted by the brand new “Festos Palace”, was deployed on Brindisi – Corfu – Igoumenitsa line, attempting to compete with “Blue Bridge”. Unfortunately the service was not advertised, so it was not very successful; the ship was laid up from her last Brindisi – Igoumenitsa sailing on 25 September 2001 until her sale, together with “El Greco” dated April 2002 to the Italian company My Way, which put her on a Brindisi – Corfu – Igoumenitsa service as of that performed in summer 2001. On Summer 2003 was confirmed on Brindisi – Corfu – Igoumenitsa run, but was often diverted to Patras replacing the “El Greco” on the busiest sailings. Although she’s been Italian, the “King Minos” will maintain her name changing the Registry port in “Limassol”: this because the Italian Registry does not permit the subscription to ships over ten years of age; the “King Minos” is thirty years old, although very well maintained! On Summer 2004 the ship was chartered to Co.Ma.Nav. for that company’s sailings to Morocco; on the sailings from Genoa was again together with the “Fedra” which was her fleetmate for 14 years under Minoan Lines colours. The ferry was sold in autumn 2004 to the Arab company Namma Lines, being renamed “Mawaddah”; another sad farewell to a good ferry…

MINOAN LINES F/B King Minos photo © Pieter Inpijn

MINOAN LINES F/B King Minos photo by courtesy of magazine EFOPLISTIS

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