 |
| ||
| |||
| Mv Superfast X / Jean Nicoli / Seafrance Moliere | |||
 | |||
© Andreas Wörteler Steel twin screw motor vessel built in 2002 by Howaltswerke Deutsche Werft AG, Kiel, (Yard No. 360) for Superfast Ferries, Piraeus, Greece. Launched November 18th 2000. D i m e n s i o n s / T e c h n i c a l D a t a Registry - Piraeus, Greece (2002 - 2007), Ajaccio, France (2007 - March 2008 ), Calais, France (April 2008) IMO Number - 9211511 Length - 203.90m (overall), 185.6m (between perpendiculars) Breadth of hull - 25.43m (extreme) Depth - 18.5m Draught - 6.4m Tonnage - 30,285 gross (ITC ‘69) 10,769 net (ITC ‘69) 6,920 deadweight Engines - Four 16-cylinder Wärtsilä-Sulzer NSD ZA V40S dieselsPower/Propellers - 46000kW/ Speed - 28.6 knots Capacity - 610 passengers, 653 cars (2002-2008) Capacity after rebuilding - 1200 passengers, 480 cars/110 trucks (2008) Call Sign - FNKG H i s t o r y / R e m a r k s June 29th 1999: Keel laid. November 18th 2000:Launched. February 26th 2002: Delivered to Superfast Ferries, Piraeus, Greece. Christened on the same day by Patricia Lederer. February 27th 2002: Commenced service between Rostock - Hankö. April 19th 2002: Laid up at HDW, Kiel. May 17th 2002: Commenced service between Rosyth - Zeebrugge. Onboard the Superfast X with Sebastiaan Toufekoulas
January 5th 2004: Arrived at Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder, Fosen, Norway for rebuilding. February 2004: Returned to service. August 8th 2006: Sold to Veolia Transportation, France for delivery in January 2007.
© Andreas Wörteler (left) and © Cedric Hacke (right) January 27th 2007: Final day operating between Rosyth - Zeebrugge. January 20007: Refit in Antwerp. February 12th 2007: Taken over by Veolia Transportation/ SNCM, Ajaccio, France and renamed JEAN NICOLI. March 1st 2007: Left Antwerp for the Mediterranean via Le Havre.
© W.J.Hoendervanger (www.wjmaritiem.nl) March 2007: Carrying cars, she left Le Havre bound for Marseille. March 2007: Made one trip between Marseille - Le Havre - Marseille with cars. April 2007: Chartered to Cotunav, Tunisia. Operated between Italy - France - Tunisia. April 29th 2007: Arrived at La Seyne and made to lay-up. July 3rd 2007: Left Toulon for lay-up in Marseille.
© Chris `H' August 2007: Chartered to Anek Lines. September 3rd 2007: Departed Marseille for Patras. September 5th 2007: Arrived in Patras. September 8th 2007 - October 2nd 2007: Operated between the ports of Patras - Corfu - Igoumenitsa - Venedig.
© Lucas Latreche (Ferries and Cruise Ships) December 27th 2007: Sold to Seafrance SA, Paris, France for an undisclosed amount. The yet to be re-named vessel will be placed on the Dover-Calais service for the 2008 summer season following. She will replace both the SEAFRANCE RENOIR and the SEAFRANCE MANET and will offer a total capacity of more than the combined capacity of the two outgoing vessels.
The Seafrance Moliere berthed in Marseille © Pascal (Pascal's Shipspotting Album) March 28th 2008: The Jean Nicoli is renamed SEAFRANCE MOLIERE in anticipation of her transfer to the Seafrance Calais to Dover operation. The vessel continues to fly the French flag, registered in her new home port of Calais.
Profile of the Seafrance Moliere © Seafrance April 8th 2008: The Seafrance Moliere arrives at the ARNO shipyard in Dunkerque for her 15 million euro refit. The work consists of port fit work for both Dover and Calais, the installation of an additional bow thrust unit, the removal of all cabins on decks 6 and 7 and the replacement of all the public spaces. The vessel was due to enter service on the 3rd July 2008 replacing the SEAFRANCE RENOIR.
© Robert Fournier June 26th 2008: It was announced by Seafrance that owing to delays during her refit, the Moliere will enter service three weeks late on the 22nd July 2008.
© `Benji' July 25th 2008: " The prospects for the Molière are : Leaving Dunkerque the 29th July in the evening, Arrival in Calais the 30th July, 30/07 to 05/08 berths test, emergency drills, crew formation, 06/08 First service in freight only with the 11h45 Cal/Dov. 10:00 6th August 2008: Arrived in Calais for berthing trials before departing for further trials in Dover at 14:00.
Departing Calais for trials in Dover © Marc Fournet 6th August 2008: Arrived in the port of Dover at 15:20 and proceeded to berth 9 for trials. © Ray Goodfellow 8th August 2008: It's reported that during her trials a number of technical problems were discovered. The Moliere is now envisaged to enter freight service on the 19th August. She is due to enter full passenger service as of the 1st September 2008. | |||
| |||
| All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for errors and omissions. | |||
| We would like to thank: Pascal (Pascal's Shipspotting Album), W.J.Hoendervanger (www.wjmaritiem.nl), Sebastiaan Toufekoulas, Chris `H', Cedric Hacke, Lucas Latreche (Ferries and Cruise Ships), Benji', Robert Fournier, Marc Fournet and Andreas Wörteler for there assistance in producing this feature. | |||
© Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow 2008 | Email the Webmaster | Guestbook | Forum | Copyright and Disclaimer | |||
 |
|  | |
