HSC ''Elite Jet'' is a

high-speed ferry A high-speed craft (HSC) is a high-speed water vessel for civilian use, also called a fastcraft or fast ferry. The first high-speed craft were often hydrofoils or hovercraft, but in the 1990s catamaran and monohull designs become more popul ...

operated by

Seajets Seajets is a Greek/ Cypriot ferry company founded in 1989 by Marios Iliopoulos and his father Panagiotis. Seajets operates a fleet of passenger, freight ferry and cruiseferry services in the Aegean Sea. Seajets is one of Greece's leading ferry co ...

and operated on

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 ...

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 ...

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

route and seasonally on the

Fishguard Fishguard (, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,400 (rounded to the nearest 100) as of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Modern Fishguard consists of two parts, Lowe ...

- Rosslare service. She was marketed by

as the ''Stena Express''. In 2019 was sold by Seajets and underwent repairs at Salamis. The ship was set to be launched on the Santorini – Rethymno route in 2023.

Design and construction

''Elite Jet'' was built in 1996 by

Incat Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built s ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and is one of a series of

wave-piercing A wave-piercing boat hull has a very fine bow, with reduced buoyancy in the forward portions. When a wave is encountered, the lack of buoyancy means the hull pierces through the water rather than riding over the top, resulting in a smoother rid ...

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

s to be constructed by the company. Construction began in May 1995 and was completed in May 1996.

Career

She briefly served on the English Channel for P&O Stena Line as HSC ''Elite''. In 1998 she was transferred to

- Rosslare service and renamed ''Stena Lynx III''. She operated this route on a seasonal basis, spending the winter months laid-up, usually at

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

. Stena Line purchased the vessel in 2004. The same year, ''Stena Lynx III'' developed serious technical problems, and spent a large part of the summer season out of service. She returned to her seasonal role on the southern Irish Sea on 14 May 2009, for another summer operating alongside . She operated the

–

route running twice daily from 15 March 2010 until the end of May 2010, when operated the route with one round trip per day. She was then laid up in Dún Laoghaire until 29 June 2010 when the vessel moved to Rosslare. She operated her seasonal summer route from 10 July 2010 until September 2010. On 15 September 2010, she once again returned to operate the Holyhead–Dún Laoghaire service, after ''Stena Explorer'' was withdrawn from the route for the winter season of 2010. ''Stena Lynx III'' operated the route until 9 January 2011, in which she then had her 2011 refit. She then returned to Holyhead, before moving to Dún Laoghaire for lay up until June 2011. At the end of June 2011, she left Dún Laoghaire to begin her summer seasonal service on the Rosslare – Fishguard route. The ferry began her summer service on the Rosslare – Fishguard route on 1 July, and ended on 4 September 2011, she then returned to Dún Laoghaire for lay up. In October 2011 the ''Stena Lynx III'' was renamed ''Sunflower 2''. While en route to Asia she suffered a major engine failure in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

. After this incident she was repaired at

La Coruna LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

, Spain. In 2016 she operated in South Korea with the new name ''Orange 1''. In 2017 the ship was chartered by the Government of Trinidad & Tobago for service on the inter-island service between

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

and

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

. In 2019 renamed ''Rapidlink Jet'' and was sold by

and moored at Salamis, Greece. In October 2022, it was announced that the ship will be launched on Santorini – Rethymnon line for the 2023 season, connecting Crete with Cyclades. She set sail on her maiden voyage on 26 May 2023. In May 2023 the ship renamed ''Elite Jet''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elite Jet Ships of Seajets Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of the Republic of Ireland Incat high-speed craft 1996 ships Ships built by Incat