EXPRESS PEGASUS was one of the classic conventional ferries of modern Greek coastal shipping, built in Italy in 1977 and completing a remarkable 44-year career before being sent for recycling in Turkey in December 2021.
Originally delivered as ESPRESSO VENEZIA, the ferry passed through Italian and Greek ownership and operated under five principal names during a career that included Adriatic services, numerous Aegean routes, the Northern Sporades and Greece's subsidised island lifelines.
Her final commercial season ended dramatically in August 2020 following a grounding near Kasos. She never returned to service and was eventually renamed PEGASUS X for her final tow to the breakers at Aliağa.
Vessel Details
Final Commercial Name: EXPRESS PEGASUS
Final Name: PEGASUS X
Former Names: EXPRESS DIONYSOS, PEGASUS, ESPRESSO MALTA, ESPRESSO VENEZIA
IMO: 7521651
Type: Ro-Pax Ferry
Final Greek Flag: Greece
Port of Registry: Piraeus
Built: 1977
Builder: Cantieri Navali Luigi Orlando, Livorno, Italy
Yard Number: 145
Launched: 22 January 1977
Delivered: July 1977
Length Overall: approx. 125.7 m
Beam: 18.5 m
Draught: approx. 5.2 m
Gross Tonnage: approx. 4,863 GT in her later configuration
Deadweight: approx. 2,250 t
Main Engines: 2 × Fiat-GMT diesels
Total Power: approx. 11,033 kW
Speed: approx. 20–21 knots
Later Passenger Capacity: approx. 1,294 passengers
Vehicle Capacity: approx. 185–230 cars depending on configuration/source
Lane Metres: approx. 400 m
Final Operator: Hellenic Seaways
Final Status: Scrapped at Aliağa, Turkey, 2021.
Built as ESPRESSO VENEZIA
The ferry was constructed at Cantieri Navali Luigi Orlando in Livorno as yard number 145 and entered service in 1977 as:
ESPRESSO VENEZIA
She formed part of a group of Italian Ro-Pax ferries designed for passenger and vehicle services in the Mediterranean.
During her early career she was associated with Adriatica and was also chartered to Tirrenia Navigazione, operating within the Italian ferry network.
Her original characteristics included accommodation for more than 900 passengers, several hundred vehicles and a service speed of approximately 21 knots.
ESPRESSO MALTA
Around 1990, the vessel was renamed:
ESPRESSO MALTA
She retained this identity until 1994.
The change marked the final chapter of her Italian-controlled career before the vessel was acquired by Greek ferry interests.
Arrival in Greece as PEGASUS
In 1994, the former ESPRESSO MALTA was purchased by Ventouris Ferries and renamed:
PEGASUS
This began what would become a 27-year association with Greek waters.
The ferry subsequently operated on routes linking the Greek mainland with islands and on international services during different stages of her career.
EXPRESS DIONYSOS
Around the beginning of 2000, PEGASUS entered the rapidly expanding fleet controlled by Minoan Flying Dolphins / Hellas Ferries and became:
EXPRESS DIONYSOS
The ship remained under this identity for approximately two years.
By 2002, she had received the name by which she would ultimately become best remembered:
EXPRESS PEGASUS
The principal name history was therefore:
ESPRESSO VENEZIA → ESPRESSO MALTA → PEGASUS → EXPRESS DIONYSOS → EXPRESS PEGASUS → PEGASUS X.
Hellenic Seaways
Following the consolidation of Greek ferry interests, EXPRESS PEGASUS became part of the Hellenic Seaways fleet.
Despite her age, she remained a highly useful conventional ferry because of her combination of:
passenger accommodation,
vehicle capacity,
reasonable service speed,
and relatively moderate dimensions.
These characteristics allowed the company to employ her on several different routes according to seasonal and public-service requirements.
Northern Sporades
One of the routes most closely associated with EXPRESS PEGASUS during the later part of her career was the service from mainland central Greece toward the Northern Sporades.
She operated from ports including Volos and Agios Konstantinos toward:
Skiathos
Skopelos
and
Alonnisos.
For many passengers, this became one of the vessel's most familiar roles.
Northern Aegean Lifeline
From 2016, EXPRESS PEGASUS also became associated with the long public-service route linking:
Lavrion – Chios – Agios Efstratios – Limnos – Kavala.
This represented a very different operating profile from the shorter Sporades services and demonstrated how a vessel already approaching forty years of age continued to perform strategically important island connections.
Final Season in the Dodecanese
During 2020, EXPRESS PEGASUS was deployed on another demanding subsidised route:
Siteia – Kasos – Karpathos – Chalki – Rhodes.
This would prove to be her final commercial assignment.
Grounding near Kasos
On 24 August 2020, while operating in the Kasos area, EXPRESS PEGASUS struck a shoal close to the small island of Armathia.
The incident caused significant underwater hull damage and water ingress.
The ferry reached safety without loss of life, but the damage was serious and occurred when the ship was already 43 years old.
Hellenic Seaways ultimately decided not to undertake the extensive repairs required to return her to service.
Final Lay-Up at Perama
Following the accident, EXPRESS PEGASUS was transferred to Perama, where she remained laid up throughout much of 2021.
For approximately a year there remained some uncertainty over whether the veteran ferry might be repaired.
The decision was eventually made to sell her for recycling.
PEGASUS X
In November 2021, the ship was renamed:
PEGASUS X
and transferred to the flag of Togo.
The change made clear that she was preparing for her final voyage rather than returning to passenger service.
On the night of 14 December 2021, PEGASUS X left Perama under tow.
The tug CHRISTOS XXXIV took the powerless ferry across the Aegean toward Turkey.
Aliağa – December 2021
On 16 December 2021, PEGASUS X was beached at the ship-recycling facilities of:
Aliağa, Turkey.
Her arrival ended a career lasting approximately:
44 years
including some:
27 years in Greek waters.
Piraeus Connection
EXPRESS PEGASUS had an exceptionally strong connection with Piraeus.
She was registered in Greece, operated for one of the country's major ferry companies and repeatedly used Piraeus and the surrounding ship-repair facilities during maintenance and lay-up periods.
PiraeuShips documented EXPRESS PEGASUS while she was still an active Hellenic Seaways ferry, publishing the dedicated entry in August 2016.
PiraeuShips Record
EXPRESS PEGASUS was recorded by PiraeuShips during the final active decade of a remarkable Mediterranean ferry career. Built at Livorno in 1977 as ESPRESSO VENEZIA, the vessel later became ESPRESSO MALTA before beginning her long Greek career as PEGASUS, EXPRESS DIONYSOS and finally EXPRESS PEGASUS. She served numerous Aegean routes, including the Northern Sporades and Northern Aegean lifelines, before suffering serious hull damage following a grounding near Kasos in August 2020. Never returned to service, she spent her final year laid up at Perama before being renamed PEGASUS X and towed to Aliağa for recycling in December 2021. The PiraeuShips footage therefore preserves one of the classic conventional ferries of an earlier generation of Greek coastal shipping.
Original video footage © PiraeuShips. All rights reserved.
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