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.
Original video footage © PiraeuShips. All rights reserved.