SEA CARYATIS – IMO 9166625

ex VALENTINE I / VALENTINE – Greek-owned Ro-Ro / PCTC under Luxembourg flag

SEA CARYATIS is a Japanese-built Ro-Ro cargo vessel completed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries at Sakaide in 1999, today operated by the Piraeus-based Mediterranean Car-Carriers Line – MCCL.

For almost a quarter of a century the vessel was known as VALENTINE, operating extensively in northern European freight trades before spending her final two years under that identity with New Zealand's Interislander.

Acquired by Greek interests in 2023, she briefly became VALENTINE I and underwent an extensive conversion at Perama before emerging in July 2024 as:

SEA CARYATIS.

A further important development followed in October 2025, when SEA CARYATIS became the first Greek-owned commercial vessel officially registered under the Luxembourg flag. She remains fully active in 2026.

Vessel Details

Current Name: SEA CARYATIS

Former Names: VALENTINE I, VALENTINE

IMO: 9166625

MMSI: 253000158

Call Sign: LXAS9

Type: Ro-Ro Cargo / PCTC

Current Flag: Luxembourg

Port of Registry: Luxembourg

Built: 1999

Builder: Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Sakaide, Japan

Yard Number: 1485

Completed: 26 February 1999

Current Owner: Sea Experience Marine

Operator / ISM / Commercial Manager: Mediterranean Car-Carriers Line S.A. – MCCL, Piraeus

Class: Lloyd's Register

Current Published Gross Tonnage: approx. 28,631 GT

Historical Gross Tonnage: 23,987 GT

Deadweight: 9,729 t

Length Overall: 162.49 m

Beam: 25.20 m

Draught: approx. 6.50 m

Historical Lane Metres: approx. 2,307 m

Historical Trailer Capacity: approx. 156

Passenger / Driver Accommodation: 12

Main Engines: 2 × Kawasaki-MAN B&W 7L40/54

Total Main Engine Power: 9,840 kW

Speed: approx. 17.5 knots

Major Conversion: 2024, Perama

Current Status: Active.

Built as VALENTINE

The ship was completed by:

Kawasaki Heavy Industries at Sakaide

on:

26 February 1999.

She entered service as:

VALENTINE.

The vessel belonged to a successful Kawasaki-built Ro-Ro family intended for high-capacity European freight operations.

Her machinery consisted of:

2 × Kawasaki-MAN B&W 7L40/54 diesel engines

with a combined output of:

9,840 kW.

European Ro-Ro Career

VALENTINE spent most of her early life in northern European freight services.

She was associated with:

Cobelfret

and later:

CLdN Ro-Ro,

operating between major freight ports around the:

North Sea

and:

English Channel.

Although the ship retained the same VALENTINE name for more than twenty years, she sailed under several European registries during that period.

2,307 Lane Metres

The original Ro-Ro configuration provided approximately:

2,307 lane metres.

Published historical figures include space for approximately:

156 trailers

or several hundred cars depending on cargo configuration.

The vessel was essentially designed as a freight ship rather than a passenger ferry, with accommodation for only around:

12 passengers / drivers.

Interislander – New Zealand

In 2021, VALENTINE entered one of the most unusual chapters of her career.

She transferred to:

New Zealand

to operate for:

Interislander.

The vessel was brought into the fleet to increase freight capacity while the ferry KAIĀRAHI was unavailable following a gearbox failure.

VALENTINE could carry both:

road freight

and:

rail freight.

She remained with Interislander until 2023.

Sold by KiwiRail

KiwiRail announced the vessel's sale in:

2023.

Ownership subsequently passed to Greek company:

Sea Experience Marine Enterprises

of the MCCL Group.

The sale brought the vessel from the South Pacific into an entirely new Mediterranean career.

VALENTINE → VALENTINE I

Following the 2023 sale, the vessel was renamed:

VALENTINE I.

She transferred to the:

Panama flag.

In early 2024 she arrived at:

Perama

for extensive conversion work.

She was photographed there on:

27 February 2024

while already described as a new MCCL vessel.

Major Conversion at Perama

The former VALENTINE underwent a substantial transformation in the Greek ship-repair zone.

The work was carried out largely by:

Greek companies at Perama

and adapted the veteran freight Ro-Ro for MCCL's vehicle-transport operations.

Contemporary Greek shipping reporting described the project as a conversion toward:

PCTC – Pure Car and Truck Carrier

configuration.

VALENTINE I → SEA CARYATIS

In:

July 2024

the ship received her current name:

SEA CARYATIS.

The principal identity sequence therefore became:

VALENTINE → VALENTINE I → SEA CARYATIS.

The new name reflected her completely new Greek-owned chapter.

First Piraeus Appearance as SEA CARYATIS

SEA CARYATIS was documented at:

Piraeus Roads on 4 August 2024,

shortly after acquiring her new name.

At the time she still sailed under the:

Panama flag.

Panama → Luxembourg

The most important subsequent change took place in:

October 2025.

SEA CARYATIS transferred to the:

Luxembourg flag.

The Embassy of Luxembourg in Athens officially announced that she had become:

the first Greek-owned commercial vessel registered under the Luxembourg flag.

A Return to an Earlier Flag

The move was particularly interesting historically.

The Luxembourg authorities noted that the vessel had already sailed under the Luxembourg flag during part of her former:

VALENTINE

career.

Her 2025 registration therefore represented both:

a new milestone for Greek-Luxembourg maritime cooperation

and:

a return of IMO 9166625 to a familiar registry.

Still Active in 2026

SEA CARYATIS remains fully active in 2026.

Recent AIS records have shown her operating throughout the:

Mediterranean,

including voyages involving:

Tunisia

Astakos

Cyprus

and other regional vehicle and Ro-Ro ports.

Current tracking confirms:

Luxembourg flag

MMSI 253000158

and:

Call Sign LXAS9.

Piraeus Connection

The vessel's modern career is strongly linked to Piraeus.

She was:

acquired by Greek interests,

converted at Perama,

managed commercially by Piraeus-based MCCL,

and renamed SEA CARYATIS during this Greek-controlled chapter.

PiraeuShips published the dedicated:

SEA CARYATIS – IMO 9166625

entry in:

May 2025,

when the vessel was still recorded under the Panama flag.

PiraeuShips Record

SEA CARYATIS was recorded by PiraeuShips during the beginning of an entirely new Greek-controlled chapter in the career of a veteran Japanese-built Ro-Ro. Completed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries at Sakaide in 1999 as VALENTINE, the vessel spent more than two decades in northern European freight service before operating for New Zealand's Interislander between 2021 and 2023. Sold to Sea Experience Marine and MCCL interests, she returned to the Northern Hemisphere as VALENTINE I, underwent an extensive conversion at Perama in 2024 and emerged as SEA CARYATIS. In October 2025 the ship achieved another distinction by becoming the first Greek-owned commercial vessel registered under the Luxembourg flag. Still fully active in 2026, the PiraeuShips footage documents the beginning of a major new identity in a career already extending beyond a quarter of a century.

Kind of ships