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FLYING DOLPHIN VENUS I (ΦΛΑΪΝΓΚ ΝΤΟΛΦΙΝ ΒΕΝΟΥΣ Ι)

-Aegean Flying Dolphins 

Built in 1981 (age 43). Registered in Piraeus. Current line: None (under refit in Perama)

The hydrofoil FLYING DOLPHIN VENUS I was built in 1981 in Georgia (then part of the Soviet Union), as the FLYING DOLPHIN XIV for the Greek  company Ceres Flying Dolphins, alongside two other sister ships, namely the FLYING DOLPHIN XV and the FLYING DOLPHIN XVI. All three of them were deployed on the Agios Konstantinos-Volos-Trikeri-Pefki-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Marmaras line on the Sporades. In 1999 her company was transferred to Minoan Flying Dolphins. She continued to serve the Sporades, although this time her service was restricted on the Agios Konstantinos-Volos-Trikeri-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos line. Minoan Flying Dolphins was renamed Hellas Flying Dolphins in 2002, and was rebranded as Hellenic Seaways in 2005, during which the FLYING DOLPHIN XIV was sold to Paxos Flying Dolphins. She was renamed PAXOS FLYING DOLPHIN and she entered service on the Corfu-Paxoi line on the Ionian Sea. In 2008 she was sold to Aegean Flying Dolphins, being renamed FLYING DOLPHIN VENUS I, and she was deployed on the Samos-Patmos-Leipsoi-Leros-Kalymnos-Kos line on the Dodecanese. In 2010 she headed to the Saronic Gulf, being deployed on the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri line. At the end of the 2011 season, due to having reached the mandatory limit of 30 years of service, she had to be retired and she was therefore withdrawn from the Saronic Gulf. She was laid-up in Perama for the next five years. In 2016, after the age limit imposed on hydrofoils was abolished, it was rumoured that she would be reactivated in order to operate on the Sporades, but this did not happen as she briefly replaced her fleetmate,  namely the FLYING DOLPHIN ATHINA, on the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri line, due to the latter experiencing several engine troubles. However, the FLYING DOLPHIN VENUS I would herself go on to experience an engine failure after just two days of service, and she was once again sent for lay-up in Perama. In 2019 she was reactivated once more and she resumed service on the Saronic Gulf, being deployed on the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri-Methana-Poros line. She was once again laid-up in Perama in 2020, although she returned later in that same year on the Sporades, namely on the Volos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos line. In 2022 she once again returned to the Piraeus-Aegina-Agistri line.

PHOTOS (2019, 2022):

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