MS ''El. Venizelos'' is a Greek

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 ...

, and second oldest ship in the

ANEK Lines ANEK Lines (Ανώνυμη Ναυτιλιακή Εταιρεία Κρήτης, ''Anonymi Naftiliaki Eteria Kritis'', Anonymous Shipping Company of Crete) is one of the largest passenger shipping companies in Greece. It was founded in 1967 by nu ...

fleet. It is a

motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

Ro-Ro 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 ...

/Passenger

boat, built in 1984 at Stocznia im. Komuny Paryskiej,

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

, Poland as ''Stena Polonica'' and completed in 1992 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 ...

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

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 ...

as ''El Venizelos''. It is one of 4 sister ships, Stena Vision and Stena Spirit, both owned by

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

s, and the unfinished Lelakis' Regent Sky. It can hold a total of 2300 passenger and 850 cars and has 1606 beds for passengers. It has four Zgoda-Sulzer 16ZV 40/48 diesel engines, with combined power of 34,130 kW and can reach a speed of 22 knots. It also has WiFi Internet, two

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s. two bars (one cafe bar and one

piano bar A piano bar (also known as a piano lounge) consists of a piano or electronic keyboard played by a professional musician as a central part of an establishment that also serves alcoholic drinks. Piano bars can be located in a cocktail lounge, bar ...

), an

amusement arcade An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mercha ...

, a

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

, a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

, a

duty-free shop A duty-free shop or store is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will ...

, a

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

, a

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a Electric motor, motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the st ...

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

air-conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

and a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

and its cabins can be either "lux", 2-bed, 4-bed, or for the

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

. It is named after

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

, a Greek politician who served as

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (), usually referred to as the prime minister of Greece (), is the head of government of the Greece, Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Cabinet of Greece, Greek Cabinet. The officeholder's of ...

and has

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

origins. On 30 March ''El Venizelos'' laid-up since three days in

Anchorage had cases with the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. On 2 April at nine pm ''El Venizelos'' moored at the Piraeus Port. From 25 April 2020 to 13 April 2023 she was laid up at

History

1979–1999

The vessel was ordered by Stena Line AB in 1979. This ship was the third of four gigantic vessels for Stena Line made in Poland and was going to be named ''Stena Polonica''. The construction was delayed but by 28 October 1984 she was launched. However, in 1986, Stena Line cancelled its delivery because none of the equipment for the interior was produced, as well as because of several long delays. One of her sister ships was also cancelled, so only the other two were completed and still operate for Stena Line. She was then laid up in Gdynia until 1988, when

Fred Olsen Fredrich Olsen (1891–1986) was a British-born American chemist remembered as the inventor of ball propellant and as a donor or seller to the art antiquities collections of Yale University, the University of Illinois, and the Massachusetts Ins ...

, a Norwegian cruising company, bought the hull, which was unofficially named ''Bonanza''. Olsen planned to move the hull to

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Vegesack

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 completion, but it never happened and the hull remained in Gdynia. It was laid up for one more year, before Anonymous Naftiliaki Eteria Kritis (

ANEK ''Anek'' () is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Anubhav Sinha who also co-produced it with T-Series. It stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Andrea Kevichüsa, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra and J. D. Chakravarthy. ...

) bought her for $6.5 million. She was towed by ''Maersk Blazer'' to Eleusis Bay on 16 February, and by November she was moved to Perama to start completion. Her early name was ''Kydon II'' after the company's first ship, but she was eventually renamed to her current name of ''Eleftherios Venizelos''. She was delivered in June 1992 and deployed between

and

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, but the ship had trouble getting into the port of Crete on windy days so she was put on another route. On 7 August she was deployed on the route

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 ...

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 ...

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

during summer and between Piraeus and

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

during winter. She was the biggest and largest ferry in the Greek coastal service for 18 years, until the delivery of '' Cruise Olympia'' and '' Cruise Europa'' for

Minoan Lines Minoan Lines is one of the largest passenger ferry companies in Europe, and one of the dominant passenger ferry companies in Greece, sailing between Piraeus and Crete and, in the Adriatic Sea, between Patras and various Italian ports. The compan ...

, and she remains the biggest and largest ferry flying the Greek flag.

2000s

For summer 2003, ANEK agreed an advertising deal with

Cosmote Cosmote Telekom, known as just Cosmote, is the largest mobile network operator in Greece and it is a division of the OTE, Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE), the incumbent telecommunications provider in Greece. Cosmote also operates ...

, a telecommunications firm. The ship was repainted with a new livery featuring Cosmote advertisements. She wore that livery until 2005. In the summer of 2004, the ship was chartered to the company Tunisia Ferries (also known as Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation, or

COTUNAV The Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation (CTN or COTUNAV) is a Tunisian shipping line, providing regular passenger ferry connections between Tunisia and the ports of Marseille-Fos Port, Marseille and Port of Genoa, Genoa, as well as freight trans ...

). In October, following her charter, she was deployed between Piraeus and

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

. On 5 October 2007, following her charter, she was deployed between Piraeus and Heraklion, and then on the Piraeus-Chania route from 2008 until 2011. In 2010, she served on the

Pireus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Athens ...

Tinos Tinos ( ) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It forms part of the Cyclades archipelago. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of and a 2021 census population of 8,934 inhabitants. Tinos is famous amo ...

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. At the 2021 census, there were 10,704 inhabitants, most of ...

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

route before her annual charter. She was then returned to the Piraeus-Chania route in October. On 22 February 2011 she departed from Perama to

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

via Souda to help evacuate people from

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. She arrived on Piraeus on 8 May. Between 16 and 22 May she was deployed between Piraeus-Chania before chartering to Tunisia. Afterwards, she was laid up in Perama, until 4 June 2012. At this time, she returned to the Piraeus-Chania line for replacing

Lato Lato () was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the village of Kritsa. History The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay between two peaks, both of ...

until 21 April 2013, when she was chartered. Between 27 and 28 January 2014, she was used as a floating hotel in

Argostoli Argostoli (, Katharevousa: ) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands (region), Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the island. It has been the capi ...

, after an earthquake that had occurred. By 1 March she was laid up in Perama, before chartering in GoSardinia in July. During 2 to 15 September, she returned to Chania - Piraeus and then laid up in Salamina. Since 2017, she operates the Piraeus-Souda line again.

Cruises

Because of her size, ANEK Lines often preserved the ship for cruises. * 2003 10 21 - 2003 11 02. Between Chania - Piraeus -

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

- Thessaloniki - Piraeus - Chania. * 2004 10 27 - 2004 11 09. Between Piraeus - Chania -

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

- Alexandria -

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

- Gabes -

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

- Chania - Piraeus. * 2005 02 01 - 2005 02 08. For Venice Carnival, between Patras - Igoumenitsa - Corfu -

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and back. * 2005 10 26 - 2005 11 07. Between Piraeus - Chania -

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

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 Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (, meaning "ancient town") is a city and major Port, sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea west-northwest of Rome. Its legal status is a ''comune'' (municipality) of Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Rome, Lazio. The harbour is formed by ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

- Chania - Piraeus. * 2006 02 21 - 2006 02 28. Between Patras - Igoumenitsa - Corfu - Venice, for

carnival of Venice The Carnival of Venice (; ) is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy, famous throughout the world for its elaborate costumes and masks. The Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday (''Martedì Grasso'' or Mardi Gras), which is the day before the star ...

. * 2006 11 05 - 2006 11 18. Between Piraeus - Chania - Tripoli - Tunis - Malaga -

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

- Naples - Chania - Piraeus.

Charters

The ship was often leased to other companies, mainly outside of Greece. * July 2001: To Italian authorities. Used as a hotel ship during the G8 meeting in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for a week. * June 2004: To

Cotunav The Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation (CTN or COTUNAV) is a Tunisian shipping line, providing regular passenger ferry connections between Tunisia and the ports of Marseille-Fos Port, Marseille and Port of Genoa, Genoa, as well as freight trans ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. Left Piraeus on 17 June and deployed on

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

- Genoa /

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. She was chartered to this company each summer until 2011. * May 2013: To SNCM. Left Piraeus on 19 May and deployed between Marseille - Alger - Tunis -

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. Her charter ended abruptly during the same year, after a poor performance throughout the season on the line and the ship returned to Greece by September * July 2014: To GoInSardinia. Left Piraeus on 11 July and deployed between

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

Arbatax Arbatax (; ) is the largest hamlet (''frazione'') of Tortolì, Sardinia, in Italy with a population of almost 5,000 inhabitants. History The origin of the name Arbatax is uncertain. According to german linuist Max Leopold Wagner, it is derived ...

. This charter did not go well either. * 14 August 2015: To Greek authorities and used as a floating hotel in Kos for refugees from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. By 19 August she was deployed between Mytilene - Piraeus for transporting refugees. * June 2016: To Africa Morocco Link between Tanger Med -

Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...

. The charter failed, as the ship was too large to operate on a line where travel time lasts only two hours.

2020 charting to Spain

In March 2020, she was chartered to a Turkish Company as a floating hotel for workers in Cadiz,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

for 1.5 month. The charter was eventually cancelled due to the

. On 30 March 2020, it was announced that ''El. Venizelos'' has three cases with coronavirus on board. On the ship there are 383 workers 36 Greeks, 150 Turkish, 82 Ukrainian, 83 Indonesian from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, and from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. The ship first returned to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

to leave the Turkish workers but the Turkish authorities didn't allow to enter the Turkish port because the Turkish frontiers are closed. The ship returned to

but the Greek authorities didn't allow to enter the port. The ship now is Laid-Up in Piraeus Anchorage with 120 cases of coronavirus. *30 March: Ministry of Health of

announced 3 cases with COVID-19 *31 March: Ministry of Health of

announced 20 cases with COVID-19 *1 April: Ministry of Health of

announced 20 cases with COVID-19 *2 April: Ministry of Health of

announced 119 cases with COVID-19 *2 April: At 9 pm ''El. Venizelos'' moored at the Piraeus Port. The crew which don't have COVID-19 are going to be out and the foreigners will go to their countries but first they are going to put in a quarantine at a hotel. Now the 119 cases with the

will remain to the ship at least 14 days more.

2018 fire incident

On 29 August 2018, after her departure from Piraeus, her garage was caught on fire. The ship was sailing 8 nm from Agios Georgios island, off Ydra. Over 1,000 people were on board, in addition to 80 trucks and 152 cars. The fire most likely began from a truck in the garage. The ship returned to Piraeus at 4.00 am as it. Passengers disembarked safely. In September the ship went to Perama for repairs and subsequently returned to service.

Older liveries

During 2007–2013, the ship wore a blue-yellow diagonal stripe. it was also on her Tunisia Ferries charters. She also briefly wore an

EU flag The flag of Europe or European flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also been ...

. During her usage for transporting refugees, she had a blue stripe. File:Ferry El Venizelos.JPG, El Venizelos in Piraeus in 2007 File:El Venizelos, 3-09-2011 Genova.jpg, El Venizelos in Genova in 2011 File:Peiraias El Venizelos.jpg, El Venizelos in Piraeus in 2013 File:ANEK LINES EL.Venizelos front view, Piraeus, Greece.jpg, El. Venizelos in Piraeus in 2015

Route

El. Venizelos serves the ferry line Piraeus-Chania

References

{{Reflist

External links

Ships of ANEK Lines Ships built in Gdynia 1984 ships Ro-ro ships Ferries of Greece