CORFU SPIRIT – IMO 8611532

ex DORIEUS / OLYMPIADA / REGGIO / RAZZOLI / ANTONIO MACHADO / SUPERFLEX GOLF

CORFU SPIRIT is a Greek-flagged double-ended passenger and vehicle ferry built in the United Kingdom in 1989, today operated by Kerkyra Lines on services linking Corfu, Igoumenitsa and Paxos.

Originally completed as SUPERFLEX GOLF, the vessel has accumulated an unusually international career spanning Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Strait of Messina, Greece and the Black Sea.

She later carried the names ANTONIO MACHADO, RAZZOLI, REGGIO, DORIEUS and OLYMPIADA before returning to Greece and eventually becoming CORFU SPIRIT.

Following extensive refurbishment and repowering, the veteran ferry remains fully active in 2026, carrying up to 585 passengers and 160 vehicles.

Vessel Details

Current Name: CORFU SPIRIT

Former Names: DORIEUS, OLYMPIADA, REGGIO, RAZZOLI, ANTONIO MACHADO, SUPERFLEX GOLF

IMO: 8611532

MMSI: 241668000

Call Sign: SVA9221

Type: Double-Ended Ro-Pax Ferry

Design: Superflex 2000

Flag: Greece

Port of Registry: Piraeus

Built: 1989

Builder: North East Shipbuilders, Sunderland, United Kingdom

Yard Number: 3007

Launched: 22 January 1988

Delivered: 11 May 1989

Current Owner: Agatharchos Maritime Co.

Current Operator: Kerkyra Lines

Gross Tonnage: approx. 4,687 GT

Deadweight: approx. 1,291 t

Length Overall: 93.83 m

Beam: 15.00–15.27 m

Draught: approx. 3.5 m

Passenger Capacity: 585

Vehicle Capacity: 160

Lane Metres: approx. 580

Current Main Engines: 4 × Caterpillar

Speed: approx. 14 knots

Current Status: Active.

Built as SUPERFLEX GOLF

The vessel was part of the unusual:

Superflex 2000

series.

These ferries were designed as simple, highly flexible double-ended Ro-Ro vessels that could operate without turning around inside a harbour.

SUPERFLEX GOLF was launched in Sunderland in:

January 1988

and delivered the following year.

Difficult Early Career

The ship's earliest years were commercially difficult.

She spent substantial periods laid up before eventually entering Danish ferry service.

During the early 1990s she was chartered on routes including:

Skagen – Marstrand

and:

Copenhagen – Landskrona.

Several of the companies associated with these services encountered financial difficulties, leading to repeated periods of inactivity.

Spain – ANTONIO MACHADO

In:

1994

the vessel was sold to Spanish interests and renamed:

ANTONIO MACHADO.

After conversion work at Málaga she entered service between:

Algeciras and Ceuta.

She later also operated:

Dénia – Ibiza.

Italy – RAZZOLI

After several years laid up in Spain, the ferry was acquired by Italian interests in:

2003

and renamed:

RAZZOLI.

She operated on routes around Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, including:

Milazzo – Vulcano – Lipari – Salina.

During this period she also underwent important rebuilding work.

REGGIO and the Strait of Messina

The vessel later entered service for:

Bluvia.

In:

2008

she was renamed:

REGGIO

and became associated with the:

Villa San Giovanni – Messina

crossing.

This high-frequency short-sea route was particularly suitable for the ship's double-ended configuration.

First Greek Chapter – DORIEUS

In:

2012

the ferry was sold to Greek interests.

She became:

DORIEUS

and entered service between:

Corfu and Igoumenitsa.

This marked the beginning of her long association with the Ionian Sea.

OLYMPIADA and the Black Sea

In:

2014

the ship changed hands again.

She was renamed:

OLYMPIADA

and deployed in the:

Kerch Strait

between Crimea and mainland Russia.

The vessel remained in this Black Sea chapter until:

2019.

Return to Greece as DORIEUS

In:

2019

the ship returned to Greece.

She once again adopted the name:

DORIEUS.

This was a rare case of a ferry returning to one of its previous identities after several years abroad.

Kerkyra Lines

Kerkyra Lines states that DORIEUS joined its operation in:

2021.

The vessel underwent a:

complete conversion and renovation

before being reintroduced to passengers under a new identity.

DORIEUS → CORFU SPIRIT

In:

2022

the vessel became:

CORFU SPIRIT.

The full modern name history is therefore:

SUPERFLEX GOLF → ANTONIO MACHADO → RAZZOLI → REGGIO → DORIEUS → OLYMPIADA → DORIEUS → CORFU SPIRIT.

New Caterpillar Machinery

Specialist ferry records indicate that the vessel received:

4 × Caterpillar main engines

in connection with her 2022 configuration.

Earlier phases of her career had used different Cummins and IVECO machinery.

The repeated engine changes reflect the considerable degree to which the ferry has been rebuilt during more than three decades of operation.

585 Passengers and 160 Vehicles

Kerkyra Lines currently publishes:

585 passengers

and:

160 vehicles.

Official company dimensions are:

93.83 m length

and:

15.00 m beam.

This is preferable to the alternative 95-metre figure sometimes found in international ferry databases.

Current Ionian Services

CORFU SPIRIT remains an active member of the:

Kerkyra Lines fleet.

Her current operations include services involving:

Corfu

Igoumenitsa

and:

Paxos.

The normal Corfu–Igoumenitsa crossing is published at approximately:

1 hour 30 minutes.

PiraeuShips in 2026

PiraeuShips published the dedicated:

CORFU SPIRIT – IMO 8611532

entry in:

July 2026.

The original article already captured many of the vessel's historical identities and its current Kerkyra Lines role.

The expanded version adds the full international history and explains how a ferry built for Scandinavian service almost four decades ago became a regular Ionian Sea vessel.

Still Active at 37 Years Old

CORFU SPIRIT remains fully operational in:

2026,

approximately:

37 years after delivery.

Her continued service is particularly notable given the ship's complex sequence of:

conversions,

engine changes,

owners,

flags,

and trading regions.

PiraeuShips Record

CORFU SPIRIT was recorded by PiraeuShips during the latest Greek chapter of an unusually international double-ended ferry career. Built by North East Shipbuilders at Sunderland and delivered in 1989 as SUPERFLEX GOLF, the vessel subsequently operated in Denmark, Spain and Italy as ANTONIO MACHADO, RAZZOLI and REGGIO before first arriving in Greece as DORIEUS in 2012. A five-year Black Sea period followed under the OLYMPIADA identity before she returned to Greece, rejoined Ionian Sea service and ultimately became CORFU SPIRIT. Extensively refurbished and now powered by Caterpillar machinery, the vessel carries up to 585 passengers and 160 vehicles for Kerkyra Lines. Still fully active in 2026, CORFU SPIRIT represents one of the longest and most varied careers among the ferries currently operating around Corfu.

Kind of ships