HSC ''Super Runner Jet'' is a fast ferry owned and 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 ...

. She was built in 1999 at

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

Riva Trigoso Riva may refer to: People * Riva (surname) * Riva Castleman (1930–2014), American art historian, art curator and author * Riva Ganguly Das (born 1961), Indian diplomat * Riva (footballer), Brazilian former footballer Rivadávio Alves Pereira (b ...

, Italy, for

Sea Containers Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two primary business areas: transport and Shipping container, container leasing. It was founded in 1965 by James Sherwood and was initially focused on the leasing of cargo containe ...

, but entered service only in 2000 for Sea Container's subsidiary

Silja Line Silja Line is a Finnish shipping company and cruiseferry brand owned and operated by the Estonian shipping company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink S ...

. In 2006 she was transferred to another Sea Containers subsidiary, SuperSeaCat. In 2009 she began service with Aegean Speed Lines between

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 ...

Serifos Serifos () is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, located in the western Cyclades, south of Kythnos and northwest of Sifnos. It is part of the Milos regional unit. The area is and the population was 1,241 at the 2021 census. It is located about ...

Sifnos Sifnos () is an island municipality in the Cyclades island group in Greece. The main town, near the center, known as Apollonia (pop. 918 as of 2021), is home of the island's folklore museum and library. The town's name is thought to come from an ...

Milos Milos or Melos (; , ; ) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. It is the southwestern-most island of the Cyclades group. The ''Venus de Milo'' (now in the Louvre), the ''Poseidon of Melos'' (now in the ...

Kimolos Kimolos (; ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It lies on the southwest of the island group of Cyclades, near the bigger island of Milos. Kimolos is the administrative center of the municipality of Kimolos, which also includes the uninhabited ...

Folegandros Folegandros (also Pholegandros; ) is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea that, together with Sikinos, Ios, Anafi and Santorini, forms the southern part of the Cyclades. Its surface area is and it has 719 inhabitants (2021). It has three small ...

and

Sikinos Sikinos () is a Greek island and municipality in the Cyclades. It is located midway between the islands of Ios and Folegandros. Sikinos is part of the Thira regional unit. It was known as Oenoe or Oinoe (, Island of Wine) in Ancient Greece. It ...

, as well as

Paros Paros (; ; ) is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. Part of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos (island), Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of Piraeus. The Co ...

and

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

. In 2016, she was sold to

Golden Star Ferries Golden Star Ferries is a Greek ferry company operating from the Greek mainland to the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. Golden Star Ferries was founded in 2011 by Andriot brothers Giorgos and Dimitris Stephanou, who also own the ''Bright Navi ...

and renamed it ''Super Runner''. In June 2021

sold to

her ships ''Superferry II'', ''Superspeed'', ''Supercat'' and ''Super Runner''.

renamed it ''Super Runner Jet''.

History

''SuperSeaCat Four'' was the fourth and last mono-hulled fast ferry to be built for

. Originally it was planned that she would be set in traffic between

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

, Italy and

Çeşme Çeşme, officially the Çeşme Municipality, is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 285 km2, and its population is 48,924 (2022). It sits at Turkey's westernmost end, on a promontory on t ...

, Turkey. The plan was abandoned however, and after delivery in May 1999 SuperSeaCat Four was laid up in

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

, Italy. In 1999 Sea Containers acquired the majority of shares in classic Finnish shipping company

. Silja were at the time operating traditional ferries on the highly lucrative route between Helsinki and Tallinn, the capitals of Finland and Estonia respectively, but had no fast ferries operating on the route. Sea Containers decided to set their extra SuperSeaCat on that route, and from 17 April 2000 onwards SuperSeaCat Four sailed on the route under Silja Line SuperSeaCat brand. Due to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

freezing during winter, the service could not be operated between January and April each year. The ship spent those months laid up. In 2003 Sea Containers added a second SuperSeaCat to the route, HSC ''SuperSeaCat Three''. For the summer season of 2005 a third ship, HSC ''SuperSeaCat One'' was added to the service. In late 2005 Sea Containers decided to sell all of their ferry operations, including the profitable Silja Line. Silja Line was sold to the Estonian ferry operator

Tallink Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. It ...

, who already operated several fast and conventional ferries between Helsinki and Tallinn. Taking over the SuperSeaCats would have given them a dominant market position on the route. Because of this the SuperSeaCats were branched off from Silja to form a separate company, SuperSeaCat. In 2008, ''SuperSeaCat Four'' was sold to

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

company Aegean Speed Lines, along with her sister ship ''SuperSeaCat Three''. Both ships remained in service between Helsinki and Tallinn. However, in 2009, the company decided to bring both ships to Greek service. The ''SuperSeaCat Four'' arrived on June 17, 2009, was renamed ''Speedrunner IV'' and began service on her owner's main service: the

line, which she also served in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, her service was only limited to Serifos, Sifnos and Milos, and in 2013 she was laid-up in

Eleusis Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost ...

Bay due to her company's economic difficulties. She returned to service the following year, operating on the

line for the summer. In 2015 she returned to service in Serifos, Sifnos and Milos, while in 2016 her service was extended to Kimolos, Folegandros and

. After the summer of 2016, the ''Speedrunner IV'' was sold to Greek company Golden Star Ferries. She is due to enter service with them in 2017, operating from

Rafina Rafina () is a suburban port town located on the eastern coast of Attica in Greece. It has a population of 14,620 inhabitants (2021 census). Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rafina-Pikermi, of which it is the ...

to the

Cyclades islands The CYCLADES computer network () was a French research network created in the early 1970s. It was one of the pioneering networks experimenting with the concept of packet switching and, unlike the ARPANET, was explicitly designed to facilitate in ...

under her new name, ''Superrunner''. In June 2021 ''Super Runner'' sold to

and renamed it ''Super Runner Jet''.

Gallery

File:SuperSeaCat Four Helsinki 2007.jpg, ''Superseacat Four'' in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. File:Superseacat Four Kustaanmiekka.jpg, ''Superseacat Four'' in the Kustaamiekka Strait. File:Speedrunner iv milos.jpg, ''Speedrunner IV'' at

. File:Pireas, Greece - panoramio (16).jpg, ''Speedrunner IV'' at

. File:GSF Super Runner (39381339052).jpg, ''Super Runner'' at

References

External links

SuperSeaCat Four at Fakta om Fartyg
(in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Super Runner Ships of Seajets Ferries of Greece Ferries of Finland Ferries of Estonia Ships built in Italy MDV 1200-class fast ferries Ships built by Fincantieri 1998 ships et:SuperSeaCat (laev)