| The purchasers of the ship in 1992 were GA Ferries, another branch of the Agoudimos family that had bought sister Horsa. Service with them, as Romilda, was not to last long and sale to Ventouris Sea Lines followed in April 1993, the ship becoming Apollo Express 2. Ventouris' bankruptcy saw the ship laid up for 1996 until becoming Agapitos Lines' Panagia Ekatontapiliani where she remained until the 1999 Minoan Flying Dolphins/Hellas Ferries takeover when the former Hengist was further renamed Express Artemis. She regained her former Panagia Ekatontapiliani name in 2001. This departure from the fleet standard "Express..." style was officially caused by expressions of disappointment by local church leaders at the change, although it was expedient for Hellas to rename the ship due to a well-publicised and unfortunate grounding just prior to the change. The ship was therefore once again named after the historic church on Paros, the translation actually being, "Our Lady of a Hundred Gates". In early 2004, Hellas unexpectedly announced the sale of both the former Hengist and Horsa. In the case of Hengist, it was a return to a reborn Ventouris Sea Lines for further Greek operations. Her new base for this season however was not to be her traditional Piraeus home, but rather the more northern port of Rafina, home since 1992 to the ex-Horsa. The ship began operations in July from Rafina to Paros under the name Agios Georgios. For 2005, battle was rejoined at Piraeus with operations down to Milos in direct competition with Hellenic Seaways, the new name for Hellas Ferries, who deployed their rather larger Express Aphrodite (ex-St Columba) on the same route on very similar timings. A summer of serious racing ensued, with the effect on the Agios Georgios' engines of continual hard working at relatively high-speed being several brief occasions out of service for repairs. In the event, the ship, leaving Piraeus each morning 15 minutes earlier than her competitor, managed to capture a ery respectable share of the market, with the ship being particularly popular with islanders disaffected with the larger operator. For 2006, Hellenic Seaways withdrew their conventional tonnage. |
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| e-mail: matt@hhvferry.com |
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| THE HENGIST STORY PART TWO: CONQUERING GREECE 1992- © matt@hhvferry.com |
| Below: Pictured as the Panagia Ekatontapiliani in Agapitos Lines service, the former Hengist is still quickly recognisable as one of the Sealink Brest-built trio of 1972/73. (Picture courtesy Richard Seville) |
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| Below: A terrifically atmospheric view of Panagia Ekatontapiliani (the first time around) under the Agapitos Ferries flag at Piraeus in June 1999. In the background are (left to right) Minoan's King Minos, ANEK's Candia or Rethimnon and the former Vortigern running as Lindos Lines' Milos Express. |
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| Below: The former Hengist in her brief initial Greek guise as GA Ferries' Romilda, at Piraeus in the winter of 1992. The ship had already acquired various stern superstructure extensions, including GA's favoured large aft entrance lobby space, but despite this expenditure GA brought in Hengist's erstwhile Boulogne competitor Pride of Canterbury (recently available following the closure of P&O's own Dover-Boulogne link) as a replacement, that ship subsequently also being named Romilda. |
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| Below: Panagia Ekatontapiliani seen at Santorini in July 2003. This was to be her final summer operating for Hellas Ferries. |
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| Below: In the Summer of 2004, Ventouris Sea Lines returned with the former Hengist operating as Agios Georgios in an all-white livery. The ship is seen here arriving at Syros on her second day in service, July 9th. |
| Below: Agios Georgios later received the Ventouris Sea Lines name to her hull and is seen below in Piraeus in January 2005 with the Express Santorini (ex-Chartres) alongside. Picture courtesy Nikos Thrylos |
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| Below: Agios Georgios seen during her March 2005 refit in the dry dock within Piraeus harbour. Picture courtesy Nikos Thrylos Further pictures of the ship from this drydocking can be found here. |
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| Below: Agios Georgios at Piraeus in late July 2005. The ship has just arrived overnight from Milos and is already loading again for her morning 7.30 departure. |
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| Below: Agios Georgios seen in Piraeus on 28 December 2005. Picture courtesy Nikos Thrylos |
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| Below: A picture of Agios Georgios looking immaculate in her 34th year of service. Picture courtesy Lucas Latreche |
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| Below: Now renamed Panagia Ekatontapiliani for a second time, after a brief stint as Express Artemis, the ship is seen here entering Piraeus on a grey day in February 2003. Picture courtesy George Grekos. |