The Europalink ferry, from the Grimaldi Group fleet, enters service on the Brindisi – Igoumenitsa, one of the routes to and from Greece carried out by the shipping company which is the first in Italy in terms of gross tonnage of the fleets. The carrier joins the Kydon Palace, replacing the motor ship Igoumenitsa.
This change involves an increase in transport capacity of 20% of passengers and approximately 50% of trucks, which also corresponds to an improvement in comfort, due to the rise in the number and quality of cabins on board.
The Europalink ro-pax vessel was built by Fincantieri in 2007 in the Castellammare di Stabia shipyards. With its Wärtsilä engines it can reach a speed of 21 knots.
Ferries on the Brindisi – Igoumenitsa
Ferries on the Brindisi – Igoumenitsa line connect the port of Puglia, one of the most important in the Adriatic Sea, to the port of the municipality of Greece, called Gomenizza in Italian, located on the outskirts of Epirus. The shipping company Grimaldi operates the line.
The frequency of the trips is two departures per day on the outward journey and two on the return journey, both during the day and at night. In high season there is an intermediate stopover on the island of Corfu.
One of the ferries operating on the route is the Kydon Palace (Grimaldi Minoan Lines), 214 meters long and 26 meters wide; equipped with 231 cabins and 634 seats, it can carry up to 1718 passengers. There is an à la carte restaurant, a self-service restaurant, various bars, swimming pool, boutique, minimarket, children’s play area, cinema, disco and kennel on board.
The other vessel operating on the route, which replaces the motor vessel Igoumenitsa starting from 29 February 2024, is the Europalink, 218.80 meters long and 30.50 meters wide; it can carry up to 925 passengers; the garage is 1710 linear meters and there are more than two hundred cabins available, equipped with private bathrooms and air conditioning. Among the on-board services there are a self-service restaurant, several bars, slot machine room, children’s play area, shop and sauna.
Statements to the press
“The introduction of Europalink on the multi-day Brindisi-Igoumenitsa ro-pax line represents a new upgrade for an already effective and competitive service, a now essential bridge for truly efficient and sustainable transport between Italy and Greece in all aspects, from economic to to the environmental one”, declared Emanuele Grimaldi, CEO of the Neapolitan Group. “This innovation fits well into our broader investment strategy in Greece which, among other milestones, led us to acquire the majority of the Port of Igoumenitsa last year. Overall, our presence will facilitate the realization of the full potential of the Greek port, thanks to the improvement of its services and the use of increasingly larger and more modern ships on the routes connecting it to Italy”.
“Grimaldi strengthens the carriers and the carriers strengthen the port. A key formula of the maritime economy, applied for 12 years on the port of Brindisi by the Neapolitan company which has never spared effort and commitment, increasingly implementing routes with effective, comfortable and eco-sustainable connections”, commented the president of the Authority of the Southern Adriatic Sea Port System, Ugo Patroni Griffi. “The introduction on the line of the Europalink, a ro-pax with all the features designed to guarantee the comfort of passengers, including truck drivers, represents an important step forward in the optimization of maritime transport, in the improvement of the service and in the growth of appeal of our port, the nerve center of the motorways of the sea and a multifunctional hub in the Mediterranean basin”.
