MS

Ship prefix

A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...

 SeaFrance Molière is a fast ropax ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 owned by SeaFrance

SeaFrance

SeaFrance is a ferry company based in France that operates ferry services between Calais, France, and Dover, England.SeaFrance is 100% owned by the French railways, SNCF....

 and operated 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....

. She was built in 2002 by the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) at Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 for Superfast Ferries

Superfast Ferries

Superfast Ferries is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1993 by Pericles Panagopulos and Alexander Panagopulos. Superfast Ferries is a member of Attica Group and operates 5 ultra-modern car-passenger ferries, offering daily connections between Ancona and Bari and Patras and Igoumenitsa...

 as MS Superfast X. Between 2007 and 2008 she was owned by Veolia Transport

Veolia Transport

Veolia Transport is the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia Environnement...

 and sailed under the name MS Jean Nicoli for SNCM

SNCM

SNCM is a French ferry company operating in the Mediterranean.Its ferries sail from Marseille, Toulon, Nice on mainland France, Calvi, Bastia, Ajaccio, Ile Rousse, Propriano, and Porto Vecchio on Corsica, Porto Torres on Sardinia, Algiers, Oran, Skikda and Bejaia in Algeria as well as Tunis in...

, COTUNAV and ANEK Lines

ANEK Lines

ANEK Lines is a shipping company in Greece. It was founded in 1967 by numerous shareholders who were inhabitants of Crete. It operates passenger ferries, mainly on Piraeus-Crete and Adriatic Sea lines....

.

Concept and construction

The Superfast X was the last ship in a series of four identical ice class

Ice class

Ships with an Ice Class have a strengthened hull to enable them to navigate through sea ice.-History:The first requirements for merchant ships to be escorted by icebreakers were set in Finland in 1890, after winter traffic to the port of Hanko was started. In the past, different classification...

ed fast ferries built by HDW for Superfast Ferries' new Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

 services. She was launched on 18 November 2000, on the same date as her sisters and The Superfast X was delivered to her owners on 26 February 2002, and christened on the same date by Patricia Lederer.

Service history

The Superfast X entered service for Superfast Ferries on 27 February 2002 on the Hanko—Rostock

Rostock

Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...

 route. She remained on that route until 19 April 2002, when she was laid up in Kiel at HDW. On 17 May 2002 she re-entered service, now on the Rosyth—Zeebrugge route

Rosyth - Zeebrugge ferry service

The ferry service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge is a freight-only service operated by DFDS. The current service replaces a passenger and freight service that was operated by Norfolkline from 18 May 2009 until 15 December 2010 . It is the only direct ferry route between Scotland and Continental Europe...

. In January—February 2004 the Superfast X was rebuilt at Fosen Mekaniske Verksted, Fosen

Fosen

Fosen is a traditional district in Trøndelag, consisting of the municipalities Osen, Roan, Åfjord, Bjugn, Ørland, Rissa, Agdenes, Snillfjord, Hemne, Hitra and Frøya. The district is dominated by forested valleys, lakes, coastal cliffs but also shallow areas, and in the interior mountains reaching...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 with additional passenger berths. On 7 August 2006 Superfast Ferries announced they had sold the Superfast X to Veolia Transport for Euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 112 million. The ship was delivered to her new owners on 12 February 2007 and renamed Jean Nicoli.

On March 2007 the Jean Nicoli made crossings from Le Havre

Le Havre

Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

 to Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, carrying cars onboard. During April of the same year she was chartered to COTUNAV for traffic from Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 to Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

. At the end of April she was laid up, initially at La Seyne, later at Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

. From 8 September until 2 October 2007 she was chartered to ANEK Lines

ANEK Lines

ANEK Lines is a shipping company in Greece. It was founded in 1967 by numerous shareholders who were inhabitants of Crete. It operates passenger ferries, mainly on Piraeus-Crete and Adriatic Sea lines....

 for service on their Patras

Patras

Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...

—Korfu—Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....

—Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 route. On 27 December 2007 the ship was sold to SeaFrance, with a delivery date set for April 2008.

In the beginning of April 2008 the Jean Nicoli was delivered to SeaFrance and renamed SeaFrance Molière. On 3 April 2008 she left Marseille for Arno Dunkerque for rebuilding into a short distance ferry. She entered service with SeaFrance in freight only operation on 19 August 2008 and begun passenger service on 1 September 2008.