Old ferries heading to the scrap yard

Old ferries crowding Piraeus port sent to Turkish scrap yard

If I had known that I wouldn't see these old ladies again I would have taken some photos when I arrved at Piraeus last month.  But I was on a High Speed, with no access to the outside, and didn't bother taking any photos through the spray spattered windows.  I saw the row of old ferries, the lower paintwork shades of faded turquoise, moored on the left of the dock near the entrance.

The ferries heading to the scrapyard are these G&A ships

• Daliana
• Dimitroula
• Marina
• Milena
• Rodanthe
• Romilda

I remember when to me travelling on one of the G&A ships seemed the height of luxury!  They were so modern when compared with their predecessors.  Yet when compared with the faster and more modern ferries of today, these about-to-be scrapped ships seem old-fashioned.

Looking back, it is often difficult to recall idiosyncracies of specific ships.  And the names of ships were sometimes changed.  I think of the Dimitra - how did that ship compare with the Dimitroula?  I must do some research!

I do remember the Marina (it was the Marina, i'm fairly certain!).  The Marina was the first ferry I travelled on that went direct from Katapola to Piraeus without stopping.  her unique feature was a small swimming pool on the deck (closed and unfilled at the time of year I travelled on her), and straw covered parasols on the deck (whistling in the strong winds at the time of year I travelled on her!).

These days I rarely travel on the traditional type of ferry such as these old G&A ships.  the Express Skopelitis is much, much smaller.  The Artemis is not as big as the old G&A ferries, and she starts from Syros, not Piraeus.  The last large traditional ferry I travelled on may have been the Romilda, several years ago, when I went from Amorgos to Naxos one winter night.