F/B Penelope A

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F/B PENELOPE A

Photo © Daniele Miglio #87

Ship	Penelope A (2000)	Building Spec.	Schichau Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven, West Germany, 1975 – N° 2256
Call Sign	C6DX3	IMO Number	7400261
GRT	11.135	DWT	3.949
Dimensions	133,46 x 20,27 x 5,8	Engines	2 Stork – Werkspoor 9TM410RR, 8.385 kW
Speed	18,5 knots	Passengers	1.100
Beds	52?	Cars	400
Lane Metres	1.000	Sister ships	Lina Trader (Scrapped in 2006) Star Fighter Via Mare
Registry Port	Nassau	Flag	Bahamas
Former Names/Own.	European Gateway – Townsend Thoresen 1975-1983 European Gateway – Clorinda Navigation 1983-1984 Flavia – Clorinda Navigation / Anco Ferries 1984-1988 Travemünde Link I – GT Link 06/1988-11/1988 Travemünde Link – GT Link 11/1988-02/1992 Rostock Link – Europa Linien 02/1992-06/1996 Rostock Link – DSB Rederi / Scandlines 06/1996-01/2000 Chartered to Mols* Linien 06/1999-12/1999*
New Names/Owners	Penelope – Agoudimos Lines 06/2005à Chartered to Nel* Lines 12/2010-04/2011* Chartered to Marfamar* 10/2011-11/2011* Scrapped at Aliaga (Turkey) on 07/2011 as “Lopi”.
Line

This ferry has a long and fascinating career: being delivered as the “European Gateway” in 1975, even if the owner was considering to use the name “European Express” for her, was the first ferry built for Townsend Thoresen by the Schichau Seebeckwerft yard of Bremerhaven. The collaboration between the Anglo-Norwegian company and the German yard led to nine orders placed to the Bremerhaven yard between 1975 and 1987, of which four ships were part of this vessel’s class. The “European Gateway” was deployed on Felixstowe – Europoort line, being very successful and leading her owner to lengthen the ship, which grow up to 133,4 metres by her original length of 117,7 metres, after the addition of a 15,7 m section at the Amsterdam Dry Dock in 1980; anyway this work was not repeated on the other three sisters. At the end of 1982 she was the first Townsend Thoresen ferry to go sunbathing on North Sea; on 19^th December, after a collision with the “Speedlink Vanguard” the ferry capsized, sinking on her starboard side and lying on the bottom of the sea, causing six deaths among her 35 passengers. However the second Townsend Thoresen’s “sunbathing”, few years later, had more dramatic consequences. The ferry was salvaged only two months later, and when she was towed to Amsterdam, the marks of her stay in the stormy North Sea were evident. After little time she was sold to Clorinda Navigation of Cyprus and rebuilt at Perama Yards, then entered the Anco Ferries fleet as “Flavia” for the Brindisi – Igoumenitsa – Patras line. In 1988, after the bankruptcy of the owner, was purchased by GT Link and renamed “Travemunde Link I” with Bahamas Flag. Rebuilt at Nakskov in Denmark, was fitted with drive-through access on the upper deck and soon renamed “Travemunde Link” for Gedser - Travemunde line. In 1992 was renamed “Rostock Link” for Europa Linien, serving Rostock – Travemunde line. On February 16^th, 1992 the ferry grounded at Gedser with 874 passengers, being refloated by tugs and soon sent to Rostock to be repaired at Kværner Warnow yards. The same accident occurred about five years later, on February 5^th, 1997, when she ran aground on a sandbank at 01.20; she was anyway able to refloat on her own power at 06.05 in the morning. The ferry anyway entered the DSB Rederi/Scandlines fleet in July, 1996. The last six months of Scandlines ownership, from June to December 1999, were spent out on charter to Mols Linien, linking Aarhus, on Danish mainland, with Sjælland, Danmark’s main island, stopping at the port of Kalundborg, which gave to the ferry her artist-name “Kalundborg Link”. Sold to Agoudimos Lines in January 2000, she headed to Greece under the name “Penelope A”; anyway it wasn’t planned to employ her in Greece, replacing the original “Penelope A” sold to Minoan Flying Dolphins a couple of months earlier, but to enforce the presence of the company on Brindisi – Igoumenitsa line, replacing the older “Kapetan Alexandros A”; the refit work was very light, omitting also to remove the ugly “cupboard” used in Baltic Sea for drive-through on upper garage deck. During her stay on Brindisi line, was often inspected by the Paris MOU, being detained three times in 2000, 2002 and 2004. On July 2004 was replaced on Brindisi line by the newly-purchased “Ionian Sky” and moved to Bari, where she opened a second line to Albania, after the Brindisi – Vlore line operated by the “Kapetan Alexandros A”: the Bari – Durres line. She left her new service in September, to go again on Brindisi – Igoumenitsa service, offering two daily sailings from each port sailing along the “Ionian Sky”, reverting back again to Bari – Durres service, in order to catch the two peak periods of this route, Summer time and Christmas holidays. At the beginning of summer 2005, the ferry wasn’t yet deployed neither on Brindisi – Igoumenitsa line nor on Bari – Durres: even if this was the most probable service for her in 2005, she was surprisingly reflagged to Greece for a new service sailing from Thessaloniki both to Samos, Kalymnos, Kos, Rhodes, Karpathos and Heraklion and to Skiathos, Tinos, Paros, Santorini and Heraklion. Being forced to rename the ferry, the company decided, with a great fantasy effort, to rename her as “Penelope”!!! After having been redeployed on Brindisi – Greece service, at the end of 2010 was chartered to NEL Lines, and later to Marfamar.

TOWNSEND THORESEN F/B European Gateway salvage operations – Photo © Ted Ingham, Harwich, 1983 #11739

TOWNSEND THORESEN F/B European Gateway salvage operations – Photo © Ted Ingham, Harwich, 1983 #11741

Descrizione: 2ANCO FERRIES FB Flavia

ANCO FERRIES F/B Flavia - photo by courtesy of Greecefinikunda

Descrizione: Travemundelink

GT LINK Ro/Ro Travemunde Link - Photo by courtesy of Micke Asklander

GT LINK F/B Travemunde Link – Photo © Tony Garner, Travemünde, 15/06/1989 #13490

Descrizione: RostockLink1

EUROPA LINIEN Ro/Ro Rostock Link - Photo by courtesy of Micke Asklander

EUROPA LINIEN F/B Rostock Link – Photo © Wolfgang Kramer, Warnemünde, 11/06/1995 #15023

SCANDLINES F/B Rostock Link – Photo © Wolfgang Kramer, Warnemünde, 30/04/1997 #15027

Descrizione: RostockLink2

MOLS LINIEN - Ro/Ro Rostock Link artistname “Kalundborg Link” - Photo © Micke Asklander

Descrizione: AGOUDIMOS LINES FB Penelope A 01

Descrizione: AGOUDIMOS LINES FB Penelope A 2000 02

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