F/B Visentzos Kornaros - Agios Nikolaos

F/B VISENTZOS KORNAROS

Photo © Michele Lulurgas, Piraeus, 09/11/06 #4883

Ship	Visentzos Kornaros (1994) ΒΙΤSΕΝΤΖΟS ΚΟΡΝΑΡΟS	Building Spec.	Aalborg Værft A/S, Ålborg, Denmark, 1976 – N° 208
Call Sign	SXNX	IMO Number	7358327
GRT	9.735	DWT	1.616
Dimensions	128,7 x 19,8 x 4,5	Engines	2 Werkspoor 8TM410, 1 Werkspoor 9TM410, 10.655 kW
Speed	18 knots	Passengers	1.200
Beds	284	Cars	275
Garage		Sister Ships	Mogador Oujda Samothraki
Registry Port	Agios Nikolaos	Flag	Greek
Former Names/Own.	Viking Viscount – Townsend Thoresen 1976-87 Viking Viscount – P&O European Ferries 1987-89 Pride of Winchester – P&O European Ferries 1989-94
New Names/Owners
Line	Piraeus – Milos – Santorini – Heraklion/Agios Nikolaos – Sitia – Kassos – Diafani – Karpathos – Chalki – Rhodes.

The “Visentzos Kornaros” started sailing in 1976, as the last vessel of a four sisters serie built by Aalborg yards of Denmark for Townsend Thoresen. The original name of the ferry is “Viking Viscount”, according to Thoresen’s naming tradition, after the three vessels previously built for the Norwegian partner of Townsend Thoresen company to operate in the Western Channel. The structure and the external appearance instead are clearly resembling the Townsend style, particularly being very similar to “Free Enterprise IV-VIII” class and reproponing the unusual propulsion scheme with three engines and three stern propellers, the port side and the starboard one with a eight-cylinder Werkspoor engine, the central one with a Werkspoor nine-cylinder. The ferry starts its career between the British port of Felixstowe and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, sailing in North Sea instead of Channel waters. Probably after the tragedy of the “Herald of Free Enterprise” the Townsend Thoresen brand disappears and during 1987 all the ferries of the company were gradually repainted, first the funnel, with the classic P&O flag, then the hull leaves the red for the blue. Anyway, the ship had changed her service area from North Sea to Western Channel from 1986, sailing from Portsmouth and Southampton to Le Havre and Cherbourg. In 1989 the ferry took the name “Pride of Winchester”, after the English county, even if when I saw her the first time at Piraeus on September 1994, I wondered what pride could have a Winchester rifle. Leaving the jokes away, the ferry served also the Dover – Calais line for three months in 1989, then back to Western Channel services until July 1994, when she left her place to the new entries of the company, the two sisters ex-Olau Line. Sold to the newly-established Greek company Lasiotiki Anonimi Naftiliaki Etaria, better known as LANE, starti sailing in Greece maintaining the P&O blue and distyinguishing herself only by the logo painted on the tunnel, which anyway remains P&O bright blue. She started on Piraeus – Milos – Agios Nikolaos – Sitia line, calling also at Kassos and Karpathos on weekends since 1996. In 1995 the ferry changed its livery for the first time: the “Lane Lines” mark was painted on the sides and the brand of the company on the funnel became larger. After a while, the livery was heavily changed, being repainted white on both hull and funnels, the font of “Lane Lines” changed and three stripes, blue, red and green, were painted on the sides. Some time later, after the arrival of the “Ierapetra L.” the font of “Lane Lines” was changed again, the coloured stripes were painted away and the European Union flag appeared beside the company mark. In the meantime the company services were extended to Chalki and Rhodes, then also Kastelorizo and finally the Rhodes – Kos – Kalymnos – Samos – Chios – Mytilene – Limnos – Alexandropolis line. In 2006 the company changed again the livery, adopting the new and fresh LANE colours. So, if the copmpany doesdn’t change their ships, changes at least the liveries…