HSC Hellenic Highspeed
ex Hellenic Wind,Viking, Superseacat Two
© Ken Larwood
Aluminium MDV 1200 mono-hull high speed craft built in 1997 by Fincantieri-Cant. Nav. Italian S.p.A., Riva Trigoso , Italy (Yard No. 6000) for Hoverspeed Ltd, (Sea Containers Ltd) Nassau, Bahamas as a car and passenger ferry
Technical Data
- Length: 100m
- Breadth: 17.10m
- Draught: 2.70m
- Tonnage: 4,500 gross/340 deadweight
- Engines: Four Ruston 20RK270 diesels
- Power: 27,500kW.
- Speed: 37.8 knots
- Capacity: 800 passengers, 175 cars
- Call Sign: VQJD2, 9HA2162, SVAI2
- IMO Number: 9141845
- MMSI Number: 241420000
- Registry: La Spezia/Italy 🇮🇹, Liverpool/UK 🇬🇧, Valletta/Malta 🇲🇹, Piraeus/Greece 🇬🇷
- Sister Ships: Superseacat One (5999), Superseacat Three (6003), Superseacat Four (6004)
Current AIS Location
Please note that this specific vessels AIS position data may be over an hour old and that the vessels position will only be displayed when it is within range of the VesselFinder AIS system. The AIS transponder/ship position data featured on this page is intended for information purposes only and it is in no way related to the 'Safety of Navigation at Sea'. All the AIS ship position data featured within this article is provided by VesselFinder and we are therefore not responsible for its content or its accuracy.
History
June 1997: Delivered to Sea Containers of London, La Spezia, Italy.
June 14th 1997: Arrived at Dover.
June 17th 1997: Exhibited in London.
June 26th 1997 – March 31st 1998: Dover – Calais.
© Mike Jackson (Left) (Approaching Calais on the 04/07/1997) and (Right) (Granville Dock, Dover for repairs 29/07/1997.)
© Ken Larwood (all)
March 12th 1998: Service between Liverpool – Dublin.
© Mike Jackson (Dublin, 15/08/1998)
April 10th 1999: Service between Newhaven – Dieppe.
© “Ferryman” (1999)
April 18th 2000 – October 13th 2000: Service between Belfast – Heysham.
March 14th 2001: Arrived in Ostend.
March 21st 2001: Service between Ostend – Dover – Calais.
2002: Laid up in Portsmouth.
Nigel Thornton Collection
2003: Service between Newhaven – Dieppe .
March 2003: Registered to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co., Home port of Liverpool.
March 16th 2003: Arrived in Liverpool.
March 23rd 2003: Operated between Douglas – Liverpool/Dublin.
March 20th 2006: Operated between Douglas – Heysham.
April 7th 2006: Operated between Douglas – Liverpool.
September 11th 2006: Laid up in Birkenhead with gearbox damage . The gearbox was repaired in Germany.
March 16th 2007: Re-introduced into service.
🆕 © Stephen Brown (Belfast, 2007)
© Aubrey Dale (Belfast, 01/04/2007)(Left) and © Peter Wearing (Right)
January 2008: Renamed VIKING.
© Robert J Smith
August 2nd 2008: In strong winds hit the berth in Liverpool and damaged her hull.
July 2009: Chartered to Atlantico Line.
July 2009: On the way to the Azores, encountered heavy seas and was holed in the bow, went to Falmouth for repair.
August 2009: Introduced in services between the islands of the Azores.
August 23rd 2008: Fire on board the ship in the ventilation system , which the crew were quickly able to extinguish.
September 2009: Sold to Hellenic Seaways , Piraeus, Greece.
October 2009: Registered to Helcat Lines SA , Valletta, Malta (Management Hellenic Seaways). Renamed HELLENIC WIND.
October 18th 2009: Arrived in Piraeus.
May 12th 2010: Chartered to Atlanticolines and left Piraeus for Lisbon.
May 22nd 2010: Arrived at Ponta Delgada.
June 7th 2010 – September 29th 2010: Operated services between the islands of the Azores.
© Aleksi Lindström
October 6th 2010: Laid up in Souda.
March 25th 2011: Arrived in Piraeus.
May 11th 2011 – May 15th 2011: Sailed from Piraeus to Lisbon.
May 21st 2011 – May 22nd 2011: Sailed from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada.
June 9th 2011 – September 11th 2011: Chartered to Atlanticolines sailing between the islands of the Azores.
September 15th 2011 – September 21st 2011: Sailed from Ponta Delgada to Piraeus.
© Dimitris Mentakis (April 2012 @ Perama)
May 11th 2012 – May 16th 2012: Sailed from Piraeus to Lisbon.
May 25th 2012 – May 26th 2012: Sailed from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada.
June 7th 2012 – September 9th 2012: Chartered to Atlanticolines for services between the islands of the Azores.
September 2012: Arrived at Perama, Greece.
© Dimitris Mentakis (January 2015 @ Perama)
2016: Renamed HELLENIC HIGHSPEED. Scheduled route: Rafina – Tinos-Mykonos-Paros-Ios-Santorini.
2016: Converted in Perama.
© Dimitris Mentakis (21/02/2016)
April 7th 2016: Towed to dry-dock in Elefsina for refit.
April 15th 2016: Left shipyard.
April 19th 2016: Sea trials
April 2016 – October 31st 2016: Completed summer sailings from Rafina.
October 31st 2016: Left Rafina for Lavrio to replace ARTEMIS for services on the inter-Cycladic routes from Syros.
January 4th 2017: Lavrio and went to Syros for services.
February 16th 2017: Arrived in Piraeus for lay-up.
April 6th 2017: Left Piraeus under tow for Perama
May 20th 2017: Refit in Salamina.
May 25th 2017: Completed dry-docking and went to Perama.
May 29th – 31st 2017: Sea trials
June 1st 2017: Service for Hellenic Highspeed on the Piraeus – Sifnos – Ios – Santorini route.
September 24th 2017: Piraeus for lay up.
May 25th 2018: Piraeus – Sifnos – Ios – Santorini.
September 28th 2018: Services Rafina – Cyclades for Cosmote
© Dimitris Mentakis (20/04/2016)
April 2019 – September 2019: Chartered to Fast Ferries for services Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos.
© Carsten Dettmer (July/August 2019)
September 23rd 2019: Charter completed and laid up in Piraeus.
© Bernd Crause (Piraeus, 27/09/2019)
January 31st 2020 – February 6th 2020: Replaced ARTEMIS on services between Piraeus – Syros
© Dimitris Mentakis
March 2020: New livery added in Piraeus.
© Dimitris Mentakis
May 7th 2020: Completed services and sailed to Piraeus.
August 30th 2020: Services from Rhodes.
September 27th 2020: Completed services Rhodes – Karpathos – Kaso – Sitia route and laid up in Piraeus.
Hellenic Highspeed – © Dimitris Mentakis (Piraeus, 28/02/2021)
March 1st 2021: Replaced ARTEMIS on services between Piraeus – Syros.
March 30th 2021 – April 4th 2021: Refit in Perama.
April 2021 – September 2021: Seasonal services Piraeus – Sifnos – Ios – Santorini route then laid up in Piraeus.
January 26th 2022: Services from Lavrio.
July – September 2022: Charter to Africa Morocco Link to supplement MOROCCO STAR and MOROCCO SUN.
🆕 © Justo Preto (Algeciras, 20/08/2022)
September 2022: Laid up in Piraeus.
July 2nd 2023: Chartered to Africa Morocco Link for services Algeciras – Tanger.
September 23rd 2023: Final Moroccan sailing.
September 29th 2023: Arrived Piraeus and laid up
April 6th 2024: Left Piraeus.
April 6th 2024: Arrived Lavrio
April 6th 2024: Took up services Lavrio – Ai Strati – Limnos – Kavala
All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions found. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Stephen Brown, Aubrey Dale, Carsten Dettmer, Fotoflite, Mike Jackson, Ken Larwood, Aleksi Lindström, Dimitris Mentakis, Justo Preto, Robert J Smith and Peter Wearing for their assistance in compiling this feature.