MS ''Skania'' is a fast

ropax Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

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 ...

operated by

Unity Line Unity Line is a Polish company that operates RoRo and train ferry services between Świnoujście in Poland and the Swedish ports of Ystad and Trelleborg. Routes Unity Line operates two routes across the Baltic Sea. *Świnoujście - Ystad *Świn ...

on their

Świnoujście Świnoujście (; german: Swinemünde ; nds, Swienemünn; all three meaning "Świna ivermouth"; csb, Swina) is a city and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, located in the extreme north-west of Poland. Situated mainly on the islands o ...

Ystad Ystad (; older da, Ysted) is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and ...

route. She was built in 1995 by

Schichau Seebeckwerft Schichau Seebeckwerft (often abbreviated SSW) was a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Bremerhaven. The name comes from the 1988 merger of Schichau with Seebeckwerft. History The original company Schichau was founded in 1837 by Fer ...

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for

Superfast Ferries Superfast Ferries is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1993 by Pericles Panagopulos and Alexander Panagopulos. Superfast Ferries is a member of Attica Group and operates 3 car-passenger ferries, offering daily connections between Anc ...

as MS ''Superfast I''. Between 2004 and 2008 she sailed for

Grimaldi Lines The Grimaldi Group is a private shipping company owned by the Grimaldi family (Emanuele Grimaldand based in Naples, Italy. Grimaldi operates a large fleet of ro-ro, ro-ro/multipurpose, con-ro multipurpose, PCTC (Pure Car and Truck Carrier), ro ...

as MS ''Eurostar Roma''.

Concept and construction

The ''Superfast I'' was the first ship built for

Attica Group Attica Holdings S.A. is an operator of international ferry services in Europe. The Group's operations include its subsidiaries Superfast Ferries, which began in 1995 with the launch of its first ships, Superfast I & Superfast II, and Blue Star Fer ...

's subsidiary

for their

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

services from

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

. She is a sister ship of MS ''Superfast II''.

Service history

1995–2004: ''Superfast I''

The ''Superfast I'' entered service on 14 April 1995 on

—

route. In March 1998 after the arrival of the ''Superfast III'' & ''Superfast IV'', ''Superfast I'', along with her sister ''MS Superfast II'' were transferred to a new route

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

–

Igoumenitsa Igoumenitsa ( el, Ηγουμενίτσα, ) is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Thesprotia. Igoumenitsa is the chief port of Thesprotia and Epirus, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, ...

–

. In January 2004 the ''Superfast I'' was sold to

Grimaldi lines The Grimaldi Group is a private shipping company owned by the Grimaldi family (Emanuele Grimaldand based in Naples, Italy. Grimaldi operates a large fleet of ro-ro, ro-ro/multipurpose, con-ro multipurpose, PCTC (Pure Car and Truck Carrier), ro ...

, with a delivery date in February of the same year.

2004–2008: ''Eurostar Roma''

Grimaldi Lines took over their new ship on 30 September 2003 and renamed her ''Eurostar Roma''. On 15 March 2004, after a small refit she began on the

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (; meaning "ancient town") is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located west-north-west of Rome. The harbour is formed by two pier ...

–

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

route. In March 2008 she was sold to the Polish Steamship Co. with delivery set for May 2008. In April, after the delivery of the new she was put on Civitavecchia/

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

route for a short time.

2008 onwards: ''Skania''

On 5 May she was handed over to her new owners, Polish Steamship Co (Unity Line) and renamed ''Skania''. She then sailed to

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

for a refit, in which her aft open deck was enclosed, amongst other upgrades for her new role. On 29 August she was Christened in

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

and had public open days for the flowing two days in the port. On 1 September 2008, she started on the over night

–

route. On 17 February 2009, the Skania was involved in a collision near Ystad (

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skania Ships built in Bremen (state) 1995 ships Superfast I-class fast ropax ferries