''Rigel II'' is a

cruiseferry A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while ot ...

owned and operated by the

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 ...

shipping company

Ventouris Ferries Ventouris Ferries is a Greece, Greek company that operates ferry services from Italy to Greece and Albania. Routes Ventouris Ferries operates four routes across the Adriatic Sea. *Bari - Durrës (MS Rigel II, Rigel II & MS Rigel III, Rigel III ...

. The vessel operates between

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 ...

and

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

Sister Ship

''Rigel II'' is the first of two

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s built. The second vessel currently operates for

Grandi Navi Veloci Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) is an Italian shipping company, based in Genoa, that operates ferry, ferries between mainland Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, France, Spain, Albania, Morocco and Tunisia. It was established by Aldo Grimaldi in 1992. History ...

as .

History

The vessel was launched in January 1980 as ''Visby'' for

Rederi AB Gotland Destination Gotland is a Swedish ferry-line that runs state-subsidised domestic ferries from Nynäshamn and Oskarshamn to Visby on the island of Gotland. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rederi AB Gotland, also known as Gotlandsbolaget. The ...

. She was the first of two identical ships built by

Öresundsvarvet Öresundsvarvet was a Swedish shipyard in Landskrona that was established in 1915 and largely phased out between 1980 and 1982. Foundation Öresundsvarvet was constituted on 16 December 1915 by Gothenburg shipbuilder, Arthur Du Rietz. During a ...

Landskrona Landskrona is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona to the island of Ven, an ...

. ''Visby'' entered service between

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

and the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

mainland ports of

Nynäshamn Nynäshamn is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid-19th century, it was only ...

and

Oskarshamn Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010. History Etymology Döderhultsvik was the original name before a town charter was granted in 1856. The name was then chan ...

. In 1987, the contract to run ferry services to Gotland was awarded to Gotlandslinjen. ''Visby'' was chartered to the new operator until replaced by ''Nord Gotlandia'' in 1990. In 1990, ''Visby'' was chartered to

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

-based ferry operator Sealink British Ferries for service between

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 ...

and Rosslare. Following a major refit in

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

, the vessel entered service in March 1990 as ''Felicity''. She remained the largest ferry on the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

until the arrival of ''Isle of Innisfree'' in 1995. ''Felicity'' was renamed ''Stena Felicity'' in 1991 following the acquisition of Sealink British Ferries 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 ...

. ''Stena Felicity''s cinema was on one of the lowest deck, and close to the centre of the vessel between port and starboard, fore and aft. Adjacent were separate male and female saunas with

Jacuzzi Jacuzzi is an American private company that manufactures and markets hot tubs, pools, and other bath products. It is best known for the Jacuzzi hydrotherapy products. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California. It is the largest hot tu ...

s. Either was an ideal place to cross the

St George's Channel St George's Channel (, ) is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It separates Wexford on the southeastern corner of Ireland from St Davids in on the southwestern tip of Wales. Origin of nam ...

in stormy weather because, being so low down and close to the centre of the ship, the rough sea state had very little effect. In 1997, the charter of ''Stena Felicity'' ended. Her place on the Fishguard route was taken by ''Koningin Beatrix''. Following a rebuild in

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 ...

, the vessel re-entered Gotland service in 1998 under her original name of ''Visby''. In 2003 ''Visby'' was renamed ''Visborg'' to release her name for a new vessel under construction in China. In 2003, she was sold to

Polferries Polferries is the largest Polish ferry operator. The Polish Baltic Shipping Company was established on 31 January 1976 as a state-owned shipping company. Under the operating name ''Polferries'', the company runs ferry routes across the Baltic Sea ...

and renamed ''Scandinavia'' for service between

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

and Nynäshamn. The vessel's last trip between Nynäshamn and Gdańsk took place on 8 May 2015. The ship was sold to

and renamed to ''Rigel II''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigel II Cruiseferries Ships built in Landskrona 1980 ships Ferries of Poland Ferries of Sweden