in intermediate livery, August 2006 , October 2006
SuperSeaCat Three was the third mono-hulled fast ferry to be built for
Sea Containers. She was initially set in traffic between
Liverpool, England and
Dublin, Ireland. In 2000 Dublin was switched to
Douglas, Isle of Man. The following year SuperSeaCat Three started operating between
Dover, England and
Calais, France. In late 2005, Sea Containers decided to sell their flights, including the lucrative Silja Line. However, the company that bought Silja Line, Estonian ferry operator
Tallink, already operated several fast ferries (as well as traditional ferries) between Helsinki and Tallinn. As a result, they could not take over the SuperSeaCats as that would have given them a
dominant market position on the route. Hence Sea Containers decided, despite its earlier decision, to continue operating
SuperSeaCat Three and
Four under the
SuperSeaCat brand. On 12 October 2007 the
SuperSeaCat Three collided with
HSC Tallink AutoExpress 2 in Tallinn harbour. Due to strong winds the
SuperSeaCat Three was assisted by a tug, but this was not enough to prevent the collision. No passengers were harmed, but the
SuperSeaCat Three tore a meter-long hole on the side of the
AutoExpress 2. livery, 2016 livery, 2016 In 2008,
SuperSeaCat Three was sold to
Greek company
Aegean Speed Lines, along with her sister ship
SuperSeaCat Four. Both ships remained in service between Helsinki and Tallinn. However, in 2009, the company decided to bring both ships to Greek service. The
SuperSeaCat Three arrived on 17 June 2009, was renamed
Speedrunner III and began service on 25 June 2009 on the
Piraeus-
Syros-
Tinos-
Mykonos line, which she also served in 2010 and 2011. In 2012 she was laid-up in
Eleusis Bay due to her company's economic difficulties, but she returned to service the following year, operating on the
Piraeus-
Serifos-
Sifnos-
Milos line, where she also remained in 2014. In 2015 she was chartered to Moroccan company Navline, operating between
Algeciras and
Tanger. In 2016, she returned to Greece and was chartered to Levante Ferries of
Ionian Group, operating in the
Ionian Sea, on the
Patras-
Sami-
Ithaca line. In late 2016, following the sale of her fleetmate
Speedrunner IV, she returned to Aegean Speed Lines, and is due to operate in the Cyclades again in 2017. In May 2022, Speedrunner III was sold to Seajets and was renamed Speedrunner Jet. Since July 15, it operates between
Sitia,
Kasos,
Karpathos,
Chalki and
Rhodos. ==References==