CHAMPION JET 1 (ΤΣΑΜΠΙΟΝ ΤΖΕΤ 1)

-Sea Jets

Built in 1997 (age 28). Registered in Limassol. Current line: None (under refit in Salamina)

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The high speed ferry CHAMPION JET 1 was built in 1997 in Australia , as the INCAT 044. After a period during which she was advertised by her builder, she was taken over by the French company Condor Ferries. She began her career on the Channel as the CONDOR VITESSE, operating on the Poole-Guernsey-Jersey line until 1999, when she was chartered to the New Zealand-based company Interislander, serving the Wellington-Picton line on the Cook Strait. She returned to Condor Ferries the following year, and she was deployed on the Cherbourg-Poole line, under a partnership that was made between her company and Brittany Ferries. This lasted until 2011, when she was deployed on the St Malo-Jersey-Guernsey-Poole-Weymouth line. She was bought in 2015 by the Greek company Sea Jets, along with her sister ship, namely the CONDOR EXPRESS, and the ships were renamed CHAMPION JET 1 and CHAMPION JET 2, respectively. The CHAMPION JET 1 was converted in Elefsina, and she was initially deployed on the Piraeus-Mykonos-Naxos-Santorini line, before later going to the Piraeus-Sifnos-Milos-Folegandros-Ios-Santorini line and then to the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Mykonos line. Her first season was not quite successful, as she was involved in a collision with the FLYING DOLPHIN ATHINA of Aegean Flying Dolphins, and she experienced several engine problems and multiple delays. Fully refitted, she had a much better season in 2016, being deployed on the Heraklion-Santorini-Ios-Naxos-Paros-Mykonos line. In 2017, she returned to the Piraeus-Mykonos-Naxos-Santorini line. In 2019 she was chartered to the Spanish company Naviera Armas and she was deployed on the Almería-Melilla-Málaga line on the Alboran Sea. She returned to Sea Jets the following year, and she entered service on the Thessaloniki-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Mantoudi line on the Sporades in 2021, while in 2022 she was on the Thessaloniki-Limnos-Mytilene-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Mantoudi line. In 2023 she was deployed on the Piraeus-Paros-Naxos-Mykonos-Tinos-Andros-Rafina line, while in 2024 she was inserted on the Piraeus-Syros-Mykonos-Paros-Naxos-Ios-Santorini line.

 

PHOTOS (2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023):