HSC Viking
Encyclopedia

HSC Hellenic Wind (yard number 6000) is a high-speed craft
High-speed craft
A high-speed craft is a high speed water vessel for civilian use, also called a fastcraft or fast ferry.The first high-speed craft were often hydrofoils or hovercraft, but in the 1990s catamaran and even monohull designs have become popular.Most high-speed craft serve as passenger ferries, but the...

 (HSC) owned by Hellenic Seaways
Hellenic Seaways
Hellenic Seaways is a Greek shipping company operating passenger and freight ferry services in the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. The company is owned by Cyprus based Sea Star Capital Plc.-History:...

, having previously being owned by Sea Containers.

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company

She first entered services between Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 and Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

 for Sea Containers
Sea Containers Ltd
Sea Containers Ltd. is a Bermuda-registered company which operates two main business areas: transport and container leasing.In March 2006 the company sold its share of Orient-Express Hotels...

 subsidiary Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed, formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd, was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005....

 in 1997, named HSC SuperSeaCat Two before moving to the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 in 1998 primarily for service between Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and Dublin but also for Isle of Man Steam Packet services between Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and Douglas
Douglas, Isle of Man
right|thumb|250px|Douglas Promenade, which runs nearly the entire length of beachfront in Douglasright|thumb|250px|Sea terminal in DouglasDouglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping...

. The vessel returned to Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed, formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd, was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005....

 in 1999 to reopen the Newhaven
Newhaven, East Sussex
Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...

-Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...

 route which had been closed by P&O Stena Line
P&O Stena Line
P&O Stena Line was formed in 1998 after the merger of P&O European Ferries Ltd and the Dover and Newhaven operations of Stena Line.-History:...

 earlier that year. Her place on the Irish Sea was taken by her sister, SuperSeaCat Three.

In 2000, she once again sailed on the Irish Sea, this time between Heysham
Heysham
Heysham is a large coastal village near Lancaster in the county of Lancashire, England. Overlooking Morecambe Bay, it is a ferry port with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland. Heysham is the site of two nuclear power stations which are landmarks visible from hills in the surrounding area...

 and Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 but again returned to Hoverspeed this time for service between Dover and Calais or Ostend operating alongside 2 of her 3 sisters. After spending some time laid up in Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 she returned to service on the Newhaven-Dieppe run before being chartered to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, which had by then been sold by Sea Containers.

In May 2008, it was announced that the Steam Packet Company had purchased Incat 050 (now Manannan), and it would replace Viking from the 2009 season. At the end of the 2008 season, Viking sailed to Alexandra Dock in Liverpool to lay-up for the winter. In January 2009, Viking left drydock to cover the passenger sailings of Ben-my-Chree, which had gone into drydock for propeller repairs. After Ben-my-Chree returned to service, Viking returned to lay-up in Liverpool.

Atlantico Line

Viking was expected to depart from Liverpool for her Azores charter to Atlantico Line around 5–6 July. A side-loading door that was fabricated in Portsmouth was fitted. She did not leave until 23 July due to a leak that was found when her fuel tanks were being filled for her long voyage. The port side of Viking has lost the web address, “steam-packet.com” due to re-painting following the insertion of the side-loading vehicle door. During the voyage her hull was damaged due to weather and docked at Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....

 for repairs. She finally arrived in the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

 and began service on the morning of 5 August. Steam Packet masters were believed to be accompanying the ship for training purposes and then to act as the representatives.

Hellenic Seaways

Viking was sold to Hellenic Seaways
Hellenic Seaways
Hellenic Seaways is a Greek shipping company operating passenger and freight ferry services in the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. The company is owned by Cyprus based Sea Star Capital Plc.-History:...

and was renamed Hellenic Wind in September 2009.
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