MS Theofilos

The MS ''Theofilos'' was a passenger/vehicle ferry built at the Nobiskrug shipyard in Rendsburg, Germany in 1975.

History

MS ''Theofilos'' was a passenger/vehicle ferry built at Nobiskrug in Rendsburg for the TT-Line as the ''Nils Holgersson'' for the Travemünde - Trelleborg route in 1975 along with her sister ''Peter Pan'' . In 1985 it was purchased by TT-Line Company after the Australian National Line announced it would be withdrawing from the Bass Strait run. The Federal Government gave the Tasmanian Government a grant to buy a suitable ferry. The ''Nils Holgersson'' was purchased from TT-Line and renamed ''Abel Tasman''. An option to buy her sister ship ''Peter Pan'' one year later was not taken up.

The ship was named after Abel Tasman, the first known European to reach Van Diemen's Land.New ferry takes name of Tasman
''Canberra Times'' 12 December 1984 page 17 She first went back to her builder's yard for a refit, and for a large box-like structure to be added to the stern of the ship for the crew, because the Australian maritime union rules did not allow the crew to be under the car deck, which is where the crew cabins were. She left Rendsburg on 22 April 1985, but two days later she was stopped by an industrial dispute with the stewards. She first went to Brunsbuttel, but had to continue through the Kiel Canal, and into Kiel where she docked. The Tasmanian Government sent police to West Germany to end the dispute and get the ship underway, but on arrival the police were powerless in West Germany. So the Tasmanian Government had to change laws to empower them to resolve the problem, and she resumed her trip and left Kiel on 18 May 1985.

She then sailed to Australia, going straight to Devonport and not via Queensland and New South Wales as had been planned. She started on the Devonport–Melbourne route on 1 June 1985 from Melbourne. Her former Captain Rudolf Schonfeldt, sailed with the ship to Australia from Germany to advise the crew, unfamiliar with the new ship.

In 1993, she was laid up following the arrival of the much larger ''Spirit of Tasmania''. In 1994, she was sold to Ventouris Ferries and renamed ''Pollux''. In 1995 she was again sold, this time to the Maritime Company of Lesvos and operated by Nel Lines, renamed ''Theofilos'' for the Piraeus–Chios–Mytilini route with calls sometimes in Thessaloniki and Limnos.

On 28 June 2008, ''Theofilos'' ran aground on a reef of rocks of the island of Oinousses about 10 nm from the island of Chios. She suffered serious damage to her port side hull, a 15–20 metres slash causing flooding of a water tight compartment, she subsequently developed a 2.5 degree list. The ship was repaired, with an estimated cost to Nel Lines underwriter, The West of England Shipowners of €5 million. Once the repairs were completed, she returned to normal service on 16 May 2009.

In January 2018 ''Theofilos'' was laid up at Elefsina Greec following her owners declaring bankruptcy. Since January 2020 she is under the flag of Togo. The ship was laid-up in terrible condition since 2020 in Perama, Greece and after two years was sold for scrap in Aliağa, Turkey under the name ''Ilos'' in 2022.

Sister ship

In 1986 MS ''Peter Pan'' (2) was renamed ''Robin Hood'' to free the name for the larger ''Peter Pan'' (3) (later ''Spirit of Tasmania''). In 1987, she was sold to Minoan Lines and renamed ''Fedra''. In 2004 she was transferred over to Hellas Ferries, then sold to Sea Hawk Marine, operated by Comanav. Later that year she was renamed ''Guido'' for a short time. She was then bought by El Salam Maritime and renamed ''Ouzoud''. She then operated under Comanav for six years on the 48-hour route from Genoa (Italy) – Tangier (Morocco). In January 2010, it was reported that ''Ouzoud'' has been sold to India for scrap.

References

External links

Ships of Bass StraitPhotos of Tasmanian ferries

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theofilos
Ships built in Rendsburg
1974 ships