''Mega Express Four'' is a fast

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

owned by Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries and operated on their routes from

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

to Ile Rousse. She was built in 1995 by

Schichau Seebeckwerft Schichau Seebeckwerft (often abbreviated SSW) was a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Bremerhaven. The name comes from the 1988 merger of Schichau with Seebeckwerft. History The original company Schichau was founded in 1837 by Fer ...

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for

Superfast Ferries Superfast Ferries is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1993 by Pericles Panagopoulos, Pericles Panagopulos and Alexander Panagopoulos, Alexander Panagopulos. Superfast Ferries is a member of Attica Group and operates 5 car-passenger fer ...

as ''Superfast II''. Between 2003 and 2006 she sailed for

Spirit of Tasmania TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, trading as Spirit of Tasmania, is a Tasmanian Government-owned business that has been offering ferry services between mainland Australia and Tasmania since July 1993. Navigating the Bass Strait, Spirit of Tasmania f ...

as ''Spirit of Tasmania III''.

Concept and construction

''Superfast II'' was the second ship built for

for its

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

services from

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

. Its construction was identical to that of MS ''Superfast I''.

Service history

1995–2003: ''Superfast II''

''Superfast II'' entered service on 11 June 1995 on Superfast Ferries' Patras to Ancona route. In April 1998, following the delivery of the new , ''Superfast II'' was transferred to the Patras—

Igoumenitsa Igoumenitsa () is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Thesprotia. Igoumenitsa is the chief port of Thesprotia and Epirus, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, connecting northwestern Main ...

—

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

route. From October 1999 until January 2000 she returned to the Patras—Ancona route as a replacement for that was undergoing repairs after an onboard fire. In July 2003 ''Superfast II'' was sold to

, with a delivery date set in September of the same year. TT-Line had already purchased ''Superfast III'' and ''Superfast IV'' the previous year, renaming them ''

Spirit of Tasmania II MS ''Spirit of Tasmania II'' is a roll-on/roll-off ferry operated by Spirit of Tasmania between Geelong and Devonport in Australia. Built in 1998 by Kvaerner Masa-Yards at Turku New Shipyard in Finland for Superfast Ferries as MS ''Superfast I ...

'' and ''

Spirit of Tasmania I MS ''Spirit of Tasmania I'' is a roll-on/roll-off ferry operated by Spirit of Tasmania between Port of Geelong, Geelong and Devonport, Tasmania, Devonport in Australia. Built in 1998 by STX Finland, Kvaerner Masa-Yards at Perno shipyard, Turku ...

'', respectively.

2003–2006: ''Spirit of Tasmania III''

TT-Line took over the ship on 30 September 2003 and renamed her ''Spirit of Tasmania III''. It subsequently sailed to

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, where it was refitted for its new service. On 15 January 2004, the ferry entered service on Spirit of Tasmania's new

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to Devonport route. Passenger demand for the new service proved smaller than had been expected, and the low passenger numbers combined with rising fuel costs led to the

Government of Tasmania The Tasmanian Government is the executive branch of the Australian state of Tasmania. The leader of the party or coalition with the Confidence and supply, confidence of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly, the lower house of the ...

's decision to terminate the service in August 2006. As a result, ''Spirit of Tasmania III'' was put up for sale. On 17 July 2006 ''Spirit of Tasmania III'' was sold to

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

operator Corsica Sardinia Ferries for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

65 million ( A$111 million). The ship left on her final voyage for TT-Line on 27 August 2006.

2006 onwards: ''Mega Express Four''

Corsica Sardinia Ferries took over ''Spirit of Tasmania III'' on 5 September 2006 and renamed it ''Mega Express Four''. The ferry entered service for its new owners in November of the same year. Between January and April 2007, it was rebuilt at the Megatechnica shipyard in

Perama Perama () is a coastal town and a suburb of Piraeus and belongs to the Piraeus regional unit and is the southwestern limit of Athens urban area. It lies on the southwest edge of the Aegaleo mountains, on the Saronic Gulf coast. It is 8 km ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

with an expanded aft superstructure. She returned to service on 4 May 2007. From February to 3 April 2021, she was chartered to

Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Pembr ...

for general relief during their ferries annual overhauls, mostly covering the

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

route.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mega Express Four Ships built in Bremen (state) Bass Strait ferries 1995 ships Superfast I-class fast ropax ferries