Superfast VIII sails on her maiden voyage today, on the route between Rostock and Hanko. She joins her sistership Superfast VII on the Rostock, Germany - Hanko, Finland route, which on 17th May, 2000, launched Attica Enterprises Baltic Sea operations. Superfast VIIs trading performance and loadings since her start, has exceeded managements expectations. Superfast VII and Superfast VIII will now offer daily departures from both ports covering the distance between Rostock and Hanko in record time.
Superfast VIII, a 30,000 GRT, Finnish ice-class 1A-Super, car-passenger brand new ferry of Attica Enterprises, is the second of a series of four sisterships being built at Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft, in Kiel Germany. The next two Superfast ferries to be delivered by the same yard, Superfast IX and Superfast X, are due for delivery at the beginning of 2002 and will launch a new direct ferry service between Rostock and the port of Sodertalje, in the greater Stockholm area.
The four Attica Enterprises cruise-class ferries to operate in the Baltic Sea, have each a berthing capacity for 626 passengers and can carry simultaneously over 100 private vehicles and 110 large trucks. Public spaces include a la carte and smorgasbord-buffet Restaurants, Bars, a panoramic live music Disco Lounge, Casino, Video Games Room, a Havana Club Lounge, Card Room, Sauna, Whirlpool and Massage Areas, Shops and Boutiques, Conference Rooms and Business Centre, Childrens Playroom, Satellite Television and Internet facilities.
Two more Superfast ferries, Superfast XI and Superfast XII, will be delivered to the Attica Enterprises Group within the first half of 2002. The first of the two will be launched on 3rd August, 2001, at Flender Werft, Lubeck, Germany.
Also, a new two-ship direct ferry service between Rosyth in Scotland and the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium is due to commence in May 2002. With the new Superfast service, Scotland will now be directly connected to mainland Europe with daily overnight crossings between the port of Rosyth in Edinburgh and Zeebrugge with a journey time of only about 16 hours.