MS Anthi Marina was the first of a class of three roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferries built for Townsend Thoresen

European Ferries

European Ferries Group Plc was a company that operated in passenger and freight ferries, harbour operation and property management in the United Kingdom and the United States...

 at the end of the 1970s. Her two sister ships were the and the infamous .

As Spirit of Free Enterprise

The Spirit operated reliably and successfully on Townsend's routes from her delivery in 1980 until the company was bought by P&O

P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries is the current name for the amalgamation of a range of ferry services that operated from the United Kingdom to Ireland and Continental Europe...

 in 1987. In the same year, her identical sister ship the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized while leaving Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.-Location:...

. The design of the ship was not found to be at fault, and after fitting of cameras to allow monitoring of the bow doors from the bridge she continued in service.

As Pride of Kent

In the aftermath of the sinking of the Herald, P&O moved to change the appearance of the fleet. The Townsend red and white hull with light blue funnels was replaced with the P&O darker blue and white, and the old Townsend "Free Enterprise" names were replaced. Spirit of Free Enterprise became Pride of Kent in late 1987.

In 1991 Pride of Kent was extended in a process often known as "Jumboisation

Jumboisation

Jumboisation is a technique in shipbuilding consisting of enlarging a ship by adding an entire section to it. By contrast with refitting or installation of equipment, jumboisation is a long and complex endeavour which can require a specialised shipyard....

". The ship was cut in half and a new hull and superstructure section 31 metres in length was inserted amidships, raising her passenger capacity to 1,825 and her car capacity to 460. The work cost £20m and took six months.

In 1998 she was renamed P&OSL Kent following the merger of P&O European Ferries and Stena Line

Stena Line

Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...

 on the 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...

–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....

 route, and later "P O Kent" in August 2002 (following P&O's buyout of Stena Line's 40% share in the joint venture).

In the spring of 2003 the ship was sold by P&O after a brief lay-up period in Dunkerque. She has been replaced by another ship again named Pride of Kent, an extensive rebuild of a former freight ferry.

As Anthi Marina

As of 2006 she is named Anthi Marina and operated by GA Ferries between Piraeus

Piraeus

Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....

, Kos

Kos

Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...

 and Rhodes

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

. In addition to the jumboising carried out by P&O she now has a more conventionally shaped bow in place of her original clamshell doors, and an internal ramp to enable her upper car deck to be used in ports without double-deck linkspans. As most Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 ports lack the linkspan

Linkspan

A linkspan or link-span is a type of drawbridge used mainly in the operation of moving vehicles on and off a RO-RO vessel or ferry.Linkspans are usually found at ferry terminals where a vessel uses a combination of ramps either at the stern, bow or side to load or unload cars, vans, trucks and...

s found elsewhere, the ship is usually docked stern-on to the quayside and vehicles loaded via a ramp mounted on the ship.