The management of MINOAN LINES is in the pleasant position to announce that on Saturday the 23rd of March, the naming ceremony of the HSF EUROPA PALACE took place at the shipyards of Fincantieri in Italy.

Among the attendees at the glorious ceremony were the Greek Minister of Merchant Marine, Mr. George Anomeritis, the General Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Lampros Lambropoulos, the Chairman of MINOAN LINES' board, Mr. Konstantinos Klironomos, Mr. Michael Babourakis, member of the board, the General Manager Mr. Panagiotis Kassapakis and the Shipping CEO Mr. Antonis Maniadakis.

Ms Zoe Dimoschaki, double golden champion in European Junior Championships in Swimming, named the HSF EUROPA PALACE.

The HSF EUROPA PALACE will be deployed on the Patras · Igoumenitsa · Ancona (Italy) route as of April 2002.

The technical characteristics of the vessel are: total length of 214 m., width of 26.4 m., carrying capacity of 1,900 passengers, 150 trucks and 100 vehicles or 600 vehicles. She has 4 ultramodern engines WARTSILA 16V46C type, of total output 16.800 KW each while the service speed is 31.5 knots.

The vessel is also equipped with: conference center, shopping center, restaurants, panoramic disco, cinema, playground, lounges, video games, gymnasium, specially equipped medical area with a cardiograph connected to a cardiology center in case of cardiac emergencies, 732 cabins and 106 VIP air-type seats with TV and the option of six different music channels.

The HSF EUROPA PALACE is the sixth newly built vessel delivered to MINOAN LINES, while the Company's significant investment program is due for completion in May with the delivery of the seventh vessel.