MS City of Exeter

Post card - Author’s private collection

The second of the Quartet departed London for Beira in May 1953, and like her sister enjoyed 18 successful years plying her way to and from to Africa. However, as with most liners services around the world, air travel became more popular, and soon loadings dropped off rapidly. She like her sister City of Port Elizabeth was sold in 1971 to Michael A. Karageorgis, Piraeus in 1971. The City of Exeter was renamed Mediterranean Sea, a name she carried until 1995. (A link to her deck plan is located at the bottom of this page).

Built: 1952 Vickers Armstong, Newcastle, England

Yard: 121

GRT: 13,343-tons

Launched: 7 July 1952

Completed: 29 April 1953

Length: 164.8m - 541ft

Beam: 21.7m – 71.2ft

Engines: Doxford Type Diesels – 12,650 BHP

Propellers: Twin

Speed: 18.8kn max / 16.5kn service speed

Passengers: 107 - First Class

Later Names: Mediterranean Sea 1971, Tutku 1996, Alice 1996-98

Karageorgis Lines rebuilt her at Perama into an ultra modern Car Ferry, able to take 850 passengers. Her tonnage was now listed as 15,212-tons. She was completed in December 1972 and she commenced the Patras - Brindisi - Ancona service. In 1974 she was registered at Famagusta and was listed as being 16,384-tons. In 1982 she commenced a direct service between Ancona to Patras.

Mediterranean Sea has no semblance of the elegant ship she one was