Overcoming maritime hurdles
New ferry service between Thessaloniki and Izmir. A new service was launched recently by the Levante Ferries shipping line, connecting northern Greece to the Turkish city of Izmir. The line deploys the vessel Smyrna di Levante, which transports cargo as well as passengers on the route three times a week.
On 10 October the Greek shipping line Levante Ferries launched a new service on a route connecting northern Greece with western Turkey.
The shipping line, established in 2015, said that it considers the move to represent an opportunity to expand its services to international routes – even in the face of some obstacles currently still facing the market that have to be overcome, such as the effects of the war in Ukraine as well as measures to combat ongoing problems related to Covid-19.
Levante Ferries said that it has invested approximately EUR 16 million in the new service as well as the ferry vessel deployed on it. It can carry both cargo as well as passengers, according to media reports.
The Smyrna di Levante, which was built in 1977, is 132 m long and 23 m wide, and can transport approximately 300 cars and 55 trucks, as well as about 950 passengers. Its top speed is 19 knots.
The departures of the service, which transits the Aegean Sea in about 14 hours, take place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the Thessaloniki – Izmir route, and every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday in the opposite direction.
An important step forward
After a rather long period of planning the ongoing negotiations as well as the cooperation that arose have resulted in the realisation of one of Levante Ferries’ great short-term operational visions.
A spokesperson for the Greek shipping line underlined the fact that “this maritime connection between Thessaloniki and Izmir, connecting Europe, the Balkan countries and Asia, represents a further revival of Greece and Turkey’s mutual commercial interests, thus fortifying relations between the countries on opposites sides of the Aegean Sea.”