Wawel (ship)
The Wawel in Gdansk, May 2007
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Wawel is a ferry from the Polish ferry company Polferries , which was originally built in 1980 under the name Scandinavia for the Swedish shipping company Rederi Nordö . The ship is in service today on the route between Swinoujscie (Poland) and Ystad (Sweden).
Planning and construction
The Scandinavia was built at the Kockums shipyard in Malmö as one of three sister ships and launched on December 1, 1979. On March 17, 1980, it was delivered to Rederi Nordö and put into service in April 1980 on the route from Koper to Tartus .
period of service
On June 7, 1980, the sister ship Zenobia sank on her maiden voyage off Larnaka . The Rederi Nordö then sold the two remaining sister ships Scandinavia and Ariadne .
Both ships were sold to the Bulgarian company So Mejdunaroden Automobile Transport (SOMAT). The Scandinavia was renamed Tzarevetz and then chartered to MedLink , who used it on various routes in the Mediterranean . In 1984 the ship was chartered to its old owner Rederi Nordö and used between Greece and Italy . In 1987 the ship was moved to the Baltic Sea . In 1988 it was chartered to DFDS and used in the North Sea . In November 1988 the Tzarevetz was sold.
The ship was sold to Sealink British Ferries and renamed Fiesta . It was chartered to Africa , where it was launched off the coast of Nigeria after a short time for fear of piracy . In 1989 the ship was rebuilt and used on the route from Dover to Calais . In 1990 the ship was renamed Fantasia . Only a year later, the name was changed to Stena Fantasia after Sealink British Ferries was bought by Stena Line . In the years to come, the ship was renamed and modernized several times. It was last in service as PO Canterbury until it was launched in Dunkirk in May 2003 .
In October 2003 the ship was sold to GA Ferries and towed to Greece in March 2004, where it was in service as Alkmini A between Igoumenitsa and Brindisi from June 2004 .
After a few months in service, the Alkmini A was sold to Polferries and renamed Wawel . In February 2005 the ship was put into service on the route from Swinoujscie and Ystad, where it is still in service today. In October 2008 the ship was briefly chartered to DFDS.