The Board of Directors of Attica Enterprises S.A. is pleased to announce the launching of Superfast XI which took place today at Flender Werft AG in Lübeck, Germany. Due for delivery in the first quarter of 2002, Superfast XI went gracefully down the slipway of the yard into the waters of the Baltic Sea. She is the first of a pair of two ultramodern car-passenger ferries currently under construction at Flender Werft AG. Her sister vessel Superfast XII is due for delivery in the course of the second quarter of 2002.
Superfast XI and Superfast XII will each have a capacity of 1,550 passengers and garage decks for 130 large trucks and at the same time 100 private vehicles. They have four 12-cylinder Wärtsilä engines that produce a total output of 48,000 kw and a speed in excess of 30 knots. Superfast XI and Superfast XII have an overall length of 199.9 m., width of 25.0 m, draft of 6.4 m and maximum height at deck 10 of 28.8 m.
Equipped with the latest navigation and communication technology, the two new cruise-class ferries of Attica Enterprises will offer 5-star comfort to their passengers and amenities to include a la carte and buffet Restaurants, Bars, a panoramic live music Dancing Lounge, Casino, Video Games Room, Card Room, Shops and Boutiques, Conference Rooms and Business Centre, Childrens Playroom, Satellite Television and Internet facilities.
Before the delivery of Superfast XI and Superfast XII, in January and February 2002, Finnish ice-class 1A Super Superfast IX and Superfast X will be delivered by Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG to the Attica Group to join Superfast VII and Superfast VIII in the four-ship daily service in the Baltic Sea between Germany and Finland and Germany and Sweden. The Superfast Baltic service was inaugurated on May 17th, 2001 with the deployment of Superfast VII joined by Superfast VIII on 16th July, 2001 in the Germany-Finland service.
Superfast Ferries as of May 2002 will inaugurate a new two-ship direct ferry service between Rosyth in Scotland and Zeebrugge in Belgium. With the new Superfast service, Scotland will be directly connected to mainland Europe with daily overnight crossings between Rosyth and Zeebrugge employing a journey time of only about 17 hours.