The German Shipyard Flender Werft AG and Attica Enterprises S.A.s subsidiary Superfast Ferries Maritime S.A. signed a contract worth US$ 192 mln (Euro 200 mln) for the building of two new Superfast car-passenger ferries of the latest technology.
The two new ships of the Group will be named Superfast XI and Superfast XII and will be delivered in January and May 2002 respectively. The same agreement
provides for an option for the building of two more ships to be delivered at a later date.
This new investment in brand new tonnage of the Attica Group is financed by the Companys own funds and bank loans arranged with the German Bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW).
Today, the Company employs four Superfast ferries in the Greece - Italy routes where last year, for the second running year, ranked first in traffic volumes and profitability in a total of about 45 ships that trade in the Adriatic Sea.
Two more Superfast ferries, Superfast V and Superfast VI, currently at the final stage of construction at Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG in Kiel Germany, and due for delivery at the beginning of the second half of this year will be added to the Adriatic routes in a daily service between Patras - Igoumenitsa - Ancona.
Another four ferries, Superfast VII, Superfast VIII, Superfast IX and Superfast X, also under construction at Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG will be delivered
in the course of the year 2001 and will start up a new service between Germany - Sweden and Germany - Finland.
Atticas subsidiary Superfast Ferries Maritime S.A., owner of the youngest and fastest fleet of large car-passenger ferries worldwide, has recently filed an application for listing at the main market of the Athens Stock Exchange.