MV Cracovia
ex Drujba, Murillo
© Benoit Donne
Steel twin screw motor vessel built in 2002 by Astilleros Espanoles S.A. (AESA) Seville, Spain, (Yard No. 291) as a passenger roll-on roll-off commercial freight ferry
Technical Data
- Length: 180.5 m (overall) 168.7m (between perpendiculars)
- Breadth of Hull: 24.3m (moulded)
- Depth: 9.6m
- Draught: 6.50 m
- Tonnage: 25,028 gross, 8,058 net, 6900 deadweight
- Engines: Four 9-cylinder Wartsila diesels
- Power: 23760 kW
- Speed: 23 knots
- Capacity: 550 passengers, 2,196 lane metres
- Call Sign: EBYF, LZRM, C6DG8
- IMO Number: 9237242
- MMSI Number: 311000671
- Registry: Santa Cruz de Tenerife/Spain 🇪🇸, Burgas/Bulgaria 🇧🇬, Nassau/Bahamas 🇧🇸
- Sister Vessels: Brave Merchant (288), Dawn Merchant (287), Northern Merchant (289), Midnight Merchant (290)
Current AIS Location
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History
The ‘Racehorse’ class quartet of ro-pax sisters were built between 1997 and 2000 for the Cenargo Group. The first pair came into service with Merchant Ferries who named the vessels after the well known racing thoroughbreds ‘Dawn Run’ (Dawn Merchant) and ‘Dancing Brave’ (Brave Merchant). These vessels, at 22,046grt, where slightly smaller in tonnage terms compared to their 22,215grt Norfolkline chartered sisters Midnight Merchant and Northern Merchant. The Murillo built in 2002 for the Spanish shipping company Trasmediterranea was based on the same design.
September 19th 2001: Launched.
March 2002: Delivered to Cia. Trasmediterranea, Madrid, Spain.
© Benoit Donne
March 2002: Commenced service between Cadiz – Canary Islands.
© Federico Bolognini
200?: Services between Valencia – Mallorca.
🆕 © Bernd Crause (21/06/2006)
June 2011: Services between Cadiz – Canary Islands.
September 1st 2012: Registered Owner; Acciona Trasmediterranea, Registered Manager; PB Management Eood.
© Mike Barker (Left) and © Carsten Dettmer (Right)
© Jens Boldt
June 1st 2014: Sold to Bulgaria West Port and renamed DRUJBA. Manager: Pb Management Burgas, Bulgaria.
© Carlos Moreno Trobat (Merchant Ships)
August 15th 2014: Maiden voyage from the port of Burgas to the Georgian port of Poti sailing Burgas-Poti-Burgas every Friday.
September 2014: Switched route from the Georgian port of Batumi to Novorossiysk, Russia.
Morski Svyat Publishing House Ltd
© Yevgeniy B (Novorossiysk, Russia)
June 24th 2014: Left Palma for Burgas, Bulgaria.
August 15th 2014: Services between Burgas – Novorossiysk.
March 31st 2017: Sold to Polferries for delivery in May.
May 16th 2017: Taken over by her new owner and renamed CRACOVIA
June 1st 2017: Arrived at Ystad for trials. She then sailed to Swinoujscie and onward to Szczecin (Remontowa Yard) for refit.
© Vladimir Knyaz
September 9th 2017: Commenced services between Swinoujscie – Ystad.
© Polferries
© Dirk Jankowsky
September 2020: Continues service Swinoujscie – Ystad.
© Marcus S (Swinoujscie, 06/07/2022)
November 19th 2023: Continues service Swinoujscie – Ystad.
July 27th 2024: Final sailing for Polferries sailing Ystad – Swinoujscie and expected to be out for charter in the Mediterranean.
© Lennart Johannesson (Ystad, 27/07/2024)
July 27th 2024: Laid up in Swinoujscie.
September 24th 2024: Left Swinoujscie showing destination as Alger, Algeria (eta: 01/10/2024) and being chartered to a new company, Nouris El Bahr Ferries.
October 2nd 2024: Arrived Alger for services:
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: Mike Barker, Carlos Moreno Trobat (Merchant Ships), Jens Boldt, Federico Bolognini, Bernd Crause, Carsten Dettmer, Benoit Donne, Yevgeniy B, Przemysław Franczuk (Polferries), Lennart Johannesson, Vladimir Knyaz, Dirk Jankowsky, Marcus S and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in compiling this feature.
Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)
Now off to Polferries!
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