Strintzis Lines orders new fast ferries

Strintzis Lines, a listed passenger shipper, has ordered two high-speed passenger and car ferries from Daewoo Ship-yards in Korea.The vessels will be used to ply domestic routes and are due for delivery in 2002, Strintzis said in a statement on Monday.

Strintzis Lines has taken delivery of the newly-built Blue Star 1 from the Dutch shipyard Van der Giessen de Noord NV. The ultra-modern vessel, which travels at a speed of 28 knots, can carry 1,600 passengers and 700 passenger vehicles or 100 trucks and 100 passenger vehicles.
Blue Star 1 has an a la carte restaurant, a self-service bistro, four bars, a nightclub, two cinema screens, a casino, several shops, a pool and all modern conveniences. It will service the Patras-Brindisi-Ancona line, a first for Gerasimos Strintzis' company, and will link the two Adriatic ports. Travel time between Patras and Brindisi will be a record nine hours while that from Patras to Ancona will last 21 hours. Blue Star 2, which will service the same route from next month, is close to completion. The operation of the two shops will reinforce Blue Star Ferries' position in the Adriatic as it means seven Strintzis vessels will link all Greek and Italian ports in the Adriatic on a daily basis.

Strintzis Lines which is consolidated in the Panagopoulos Group's accounts for the first time showed a 7.4% increase in turnover which reached Grd 4.4 bln versus Grd 4.1 in 1st quarter 1999. Net result for Strintzis Lines was a loss of Grd 481 mln against Grd 9 mln in 1st quarter 1999 mainly caused by the increased cost of fuel which reached Grd 1 bln. It should also be noted that Strintzis results of the 1st quarter of 1999 included extraordinary profits of Grd 436 mln derived from the sale of its Swansea - Cork subsidiary.