and others....

MFD was formed in 1998, as a result of a merger between Ceres Hydrofoils Joint Service, Minoan Lines Highspeed Ferries, and Minoan Lines. It was announced that MFD would enter the ASE this summer, But I can't see it happening before summer 2001. In fact, MFD is still under control of Livanos...

MINOAN CRUISES S.A. established in cooperation with the Company CRETAN AGENTS S.A., operates daily cruises with its ships MTS MINOAN PRINCE and MTS ARTEMIS, linking the island of Santorini with the ports of northern Crete.

The following companies have been acquired by Minoan

Goutos, GA Ferries, Saronikos Lines,

Knowing that the average load factor in Greece is about 52% over the operating period, The 474 ferries have a carrying capacity of M 27.2  passengers and about 4 Millions cars. (remark: there is about 10 million tourists p.a. visiting Greece)  The new full displacement ferries ordered by Minoan in ITALY (and maybe soon an other order to AKER-FINYARD for 2 RoPax plus option for 4), etc... will continue to add confusion in this market. far too big units in term of passenger, too high powering for a conventional speed, lack of flexibility. the big players and especially Minoan are mostly competing against themselves and its preeminence in Greek water is now threatened at sea (late delivery of austal => cancellation of license, each new delivery will replace a minimum of 5 old ladies ) as well as by the ministry of merchant marine which would like to get rid of the recommendations of the union of ship owner (i.e minoan) in its process to attribute new license. In the end of the summer, we will see a new high-tech pole formed by anek (nel, dane,...), superfast, strintzis, with a modern fleet Ro-pax fleet and hardly no debt competing against Minoan operating mostly old ladies but also a small fleet of fast ferries (especially catamarans). we can assumed that MFD, will survive as well as minoan cruises. but what about MINOAN and its numerous old ladies which worth less than their scrapped value? by chance the starting summer shows positive trend in terms of tourists arrival and minoan might continue to surf on its cash wave this summer. the winter will be cold for minoan.

F/B EXPRESS SAMINA - OWNERSHIP

For your accurate and comprehensive information, MINOAN LINES’ management responding to the latest media reports following the sinking of F/B EXPRESS SAMINA feels obliged to clarify the following:

MINOAN LINES is a minority shareholder of MINOAN FLYING DOLPHINS with a 31.6% stake; however, we wish to emphasize that there are no common business, managerial or organizational identities between the two separate legal entities.

The F/B EXPRESS SAMINA belongs to MINOAN FLYING DOLPHINS, a company that shouldn’t be mistaken with MINOAN LINES, an autonomous legal entity and with a separate shareholder structure.

Heraklion, 28 September 2000 Press Office

INVESTMENT PROGRAM - MINOAN LINES CONTINUES ITS FLEET RENEWAL

ORDER OF ONE MORE HIGHSPEED VESSEL AT THE SAMSUNG HEAVY INDUSTRIES SHIPYARDS

The launch of H/S/F PROMETHEUS took place on Saturday, August 12, 2000 at the shipyards of SAMSUNG HEAVY INDUSTRIES Co. Ltd in Koje, South Korea. She is the first of the three sister vessels under construction in SAMSUNG for MINOAN LINES.  At the ceremony, members of the board of directors of MINOAN LINES were present, headed by the Chairman Mr. Kostas Klironomos, the General Manager Mr. Panagiotis Kasapakis, the shipping CEO Mr. Antonis Maniadakis and other company executives. Also, representatives of the local municipalities of the Prefecture of Heraklion attended the ceremony, the Prefect of Heraklion Mr. Giannis Garefalakis and the President of Local Municipalities Mr. Giorgos Matheakis. Representing the shipyard the President and CEO Mr. H.K.Lee, the Senior Executive VP and COO Mr. C.Y.Hwang, the Yard General Manager and Director Mr. C.S.Kim the Executive VP Captain Donald Mathias, the Director Dr Y.R.Joo and other company executives. The vessel upon its arrival in February 2001 will be deployed on the Adriatic sea routes strengthening the company’s competitive advantage on the Adriatic market. 

Technical characteristics of the vessel:

· Length: 212 m

· Passenger capacity: 1,300 passengers

· Garage: 150 trucks or alternatively 1,000 private cars

· Service speed: 28,5 knots

Also, the vessel apart from the standard facilities will be equipped with:

· Restaurant

· Self service

· Lounges

· Bars

· Cinema

· Shopping center

· Video Games

· Children playground

· 2 Swimming Pools

At the same time, MINOAN LINES has contracted with SAMSUNG HEAVY INDUSTRIES for another state of the art high speed ferry with almost identical characteristics as the vessels already under construction  MINOAN LINES, with the new ship, further extends its investment program, safeguarding its dominant market position, while at the same time increasing its competitive advantage on the Crete and Adriatic routes.  Furthermore, MINOAN LINES, after actively implementing a research on identifying new prospects and opportunities, intends to widen the business horizons and extend into new European markets within the shipping industry. As soon as the new market analysis is completed, the management of MINOAN LINES is going to announce its new business plans and activities.

Minoan Lines drops fares to Crete

Minoan Lines has reduced the cost of one-way tickets for passengers and vehicles headed to Crete by up to 30%. The decrease in the cost of the Iraklio-Piraeus-Iraklio fare is part of the company's policy which has seen price reductions of up to 50% for trips within Greece and abroad. Minoan has cut its one-way ticket price for passengers and drivers travelling within Greece by 25% while students pay 50% less. Multi-trip tickets are now 20% lower in price. Individuals going abroad now pay 50% less for return tickets during middle and high season and 30% less in low season, while the cost of transporting a vehicle has gone down by 50%. The discounts follow the publication of a letter in the newspaper Patris, in which Cretan associations requested that the cost of tickets issued by Cretan shipping companies (Minoan, ANEK, DANE) be reduced in order to facilitate travel between the capital and their native island. The letter pointed out that, in some cases, the cost of fares exceeds that of plane tickets. Furthermore, it stated that the 500,000 Cretans living in Attica would continue to support Cretan companies once cabotage is abolished.

Safe and Quality Seatransportation, certified with ISO 9002

With immense satisfaction the Management of MINOAN LINES is announcing that the auditing procedure for the Quality Management System ISO 9002 was successfully completed.

The certificate was awarded on Friday, August 04, 2000 by Mr Demetris Lemonides, Managing Director of Germanischer Lloyd in Greece and certifies that the company has established and maintains a Quality Management System relevant for:

SAFE AND QUALITY SEATRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS AND VEHICLES

The certificate was received by Minoan Lines’ VP Mr Emmanuel Koulendakis. Referring to this achievement Mr Koulendakis stressed the importance of this certification for MINOAN LINES and stated:

« it was a natural continuation, all the company’s efforts from the first day of its operation are bearing fruits!

Following the certification of compliance with ISM (International Safety Management) in 1996, ensuring the safe transportation of passengers in the company’s vessels, MINOAN LINES are awarded the ISO 9002 certification, emphasizing their quality of service.

MINOAN LINES’ employees on sea and shore are constantly proving that the safe and quality sea transport of passengers and vehicles has the care of the leading ferry company.

We will always strive to keep these values at eminent levels.»

On behalf of MINOAN LINES the General Manager Mr Panagiotis Kassapakis, the Shipping C.E.O. and Quality Manager Mr Antonis Maniadakis, the ISO 9002 Manager George Liapakis, and Nikos Tziranis the Communication Manager were present.

Austal Delivers 72 metre Catamaran to Greece (from austal website)

Austal Ships has completed the first of three Auto Express high speed vehicle-passenger ferries for Greek operator, Minoan Flying Dolphins Maritime. The 72 metre catamaran, “Highspeed 2”, will be ready to enter service for the summer season and will be followed by identical sistership, “Highspeed 3”, and the larger capacity Auto Express 92, “Highspeed 4”.  “High Speed 2”, with a capacity to carry 620 passengers (80 VIP, 118 Business, 422 Tourist) and 70 cars, will join Minoan Flying Dolphin’s extensive fleet of fast ferries. Her interior design has been tailored specifically toward customer comfort and entertainment with 1250 square metres devoted to passengers and support services.  The 72 metre catamaran  “Highspeed 2” is the first Austal vessel to be fitted with the Seastate Tmax high speed steering system. This innovative system takes over control from the vessel’s waterjets at speeds in excess of 25 knots, allowing all waterjet thrust to be vectored forward for maximum propulsive thrust (ie Tmax), and eliminating waterjet bucket drag. Seastate estimates the system to provide average service speed improvements in excess of two knots in rough sea operations.  "Highspeed 2" is also fitted with an hydraulically operated passenger-loading gangways that hinge off the waterjet guards fitted to the aft end of each hull. This ensures safer and faster passenger access as the vessel will moor stern to the quay for loading and discharge. (Normally this mooring arrangement requires passengers on foot to share the same aft ramp as the vehicles, causing considerable congestion and risk to the passengers.) 

PRINCIPAL DATA – HIGHSPEED 2 
Length Overall: 72.0 metres 
Beam (moulded): 17.5 metres 
Depth (moulded): 5.9 metres 
Hull Draft (approx.): 2.5 metres 
Vehicle Deck Clear Height: 2.4 metres 
Main Engines: 4 x MTU 16V 595 
Speed: 40 knots 

The first Austal Catamaran for Minoan was delivered in pretty good condition about 2 weeks ago in Greece. But the rumor said that the 2nd and the 3rd one collide each during their delivery trip to Greece other not so far from the Indian coast.