The MS ''Mytilene'' was a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, which used to be part of NEL Lines' fleet. She was built in 1973 in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

as the ''Vega'' and put into service for NEL in 1992. She is a sister ship of ''Virgo'', which also came to Greece as the GA Ferries' ''Rodanthi''. She could accommodate up to 1300 passengers and 225 vehicles. The shipis powered by two Pielstick 16PC2-5V diesel engines with a maximum combined power of 19,200 bhp and reached service speeds up to 21 knots and maximum speed up to 23.8. She had economy class seating, a salon and bar for A and economy class passengers, a self service

restaurant A restaurant is a business 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 food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...

, jewellery safekeeping room, telephone and gift shop. She took her name from

Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of ...

, the largest city and capital of Lesvos. The ship has been laid up since 2015, initially in

Karlovasi Karlovasi ( el, Καρλόβασι) is a town, a municipal unit, and a former municipality on the island of Samos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality West Samos, of which it is a municipal u ...

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

and later in

Elefsina Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

. The ship will be difficult to return to operating condition, due to engine failure and her company declaring bankruptcy. In 2020, the ship was bought by ANEN at auction and raised the Togolese flag. In 2022 she was sold for scrap as ''Lene'' and on 1 June 2022 she was beached for scrap at

Aliağa Aliağa is a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The town is situated at about north of Izmir. Aliağa has a large port, mainly for oil and bulk cargo. Its economic activity is based on tourism, shipbreaking, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

History

1973-2010: First years

The ship was built in 1973 in Japan and was originally named ''

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, an ...

'', after the star in the constellation Lyra for Shin Higashi Nihon Ferry, a subsidiary of Higashi Nihon Ferry. The ship operated on the

Tomakomai is a city and port in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the largest city in the Iburi Subprefecture, and the fourth largest city in Hokkaido. As of 29 February 2012, it had an estimated population of 174,216, with 83,836 households, ...

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

route until 1986. In 1990, she was sold to the Lesvos Shipping Company (NEL) and renamed ''Mytilene'', from the city of the same name. In 1991, a conversion to night ferry began, which lasted about a year. It was routed between

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) 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 ...

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

and

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

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

, while she was also used on the Kavala-Lemnos-Chios-Mytilene-

Ikaria Icaria, also spelled Ikaria ( el, Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was b ...

line occasionally. Initially, she was white, with blue lettering on the sides, but later became blue with white lettering, as was the custom with other ships of the company.

2013-2022

In 2013, she was transferred to the line Piraeus-Syros-

Evdilos Evdilos (Greek: Εύδηλος) is a village and a former municipality in the central part of the island of Ikaria, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ikaria, of which it is a municipal unit. ...

- Agios Kyrikos- Fourni-Karlovasi- Vathi. There, she operated for two years, until February 2015, when due to an accident, she was stuck in Karlovasi. The 43 sailors of the ship were placed under protection by decision of the Deputy Minister of Shipping, due to non-fulfillment of obligations by the ship owner for salaries. Their salaries were finally paid. There were also rumors, later refuted, that the ship would be used as a floating hotel. Finally, after 17 months, and after a relevant auction for her sale by the Municipal Port Fund of Samos, was moved from Karlovasi by a

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

and transported to Elefsina. There, another auction followed for her sale,{{Cite web, last=, first=, date=, title=Στοιχεία Πλειστηριασμού 11/09/2019, url=https://www.eauction.gr/Auction/Details/71905 and she was eventually bought by ANEN and hoisted the Togolese flag. In 2022 she was sold for scrap as ''Lene'' and on 1 June 2022 she was beached for scrap in

External links

Mytilene at nel.gr

References

1973 ships Ships built in Japan