MS Rigel III

Immediately following delivery Turella entered service on Viking Line's Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm route, sailing parallel with Rederi AB Slite's slightly larger newbuilding MS Diana II that entered service on 14 June 1979. Turella remained on the Turku–Stockholm service until 2 June 1980, when she was transferred to the shorter and more freight-intensive Naantali–Mariehamn–Kapellskär route following the delivery of Rederi Ab Sally's new MS Viking Sally—that was even larger than Turella or Diana II—for the Turku service. On the Naantali–Kapellskär service Turella replaced the ageing MS Marella and initially sailed parallel to her brand-new sistership MS Rosella. For the summer season of 1981 Rosella and Diana II switched routes, and from that year onwards Turella again had Diana II as her routemate.[2]

Stena Nordica

In September 1988, SF Line took delivery of the new MS Amorella, which replaced Rosella on the Turku–Stockholm route. Originally SF Line had agreed to sell the Rosella to Stena Line upon delivery of the new ship. However, due to the Amorella being delivered seven months behind schedule the Rosella could not be delivered to Stena when originally agreed. In the end the Turella was sold instead of Rosella, as it was generally in a better condition and easier to convert for the traffic Stena planned for her.[7] After rebuilding at Cityvarvet, Gothenburg, the Turella re-emerged as MS Stena Nordica (a name carried by many Stena Line ships over the years). Stena Nordica was placed a route connecting Gothenburg to Fredrikshavn in Denmark and Moss in Norway. She also occasionally served on the Gothenburg–Kiel route when the ships normally sailing that route were docked. In 1996, Stena Nordica was rebuilt at Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona, Sweden, transferred to the fleet of Stena's subsidiary Lion Ferry and renamed MS Lion King. During the next 1½ years she sailed on routes Halmstad (Sweden) – Grenå (Denmark) and Karlskrona (Sweden) – Gdynia (Poland).[1]

Fantaasia at Saint Petersburg.

At the end of 1997, Lion King was sold to Tallink, who renamed her MS Fantaasia and placed her on the Helsinki–Tallinn route (where she served alongside her old Viking Line fleetmate MS Meloodia).[1] In 2002, after the delivery of the new MS Romantika, the Fantaasia was moved to the Tallinn–Stockholm route, where she sailed alongside another old fleetmate from the Viking Line days, MS Regina Baltica.[1][8][9] In 2004, the new MS Victoria I replaced Fantaasia on the Tallinn–Stockholm route,[10] and from the start of April of the same year Fantaasia opened a new Helsinki–Tallinn–St. Petersburg route for Tallink.[1] Due to a rise in port fees issued by the Russian government and due to visa regulations not being prognosed to get any better between Russia and the European Union as it had been presumed when the line was started, the line was terminated by Tallink on 2 January 2005.[11]

Following the collapse of the St. Petersburg traffic, the Fantaasia was swiftly chartered to Algérie Ferries for a duration of nine months, during which she sailed between France and Algeria. After the end of the charter she spent five months laid up in Tallinn until she was placed on Tallink's new Riga–Stockholm route in April 2006.[1] However after little over a month of traffic she was replaced by the larger Regina Baltica,[1][9] and subsequently chartered to Comanav until April 2007. Following the end of charter to Comanav, she was again chartered to Algérie Ferries until October 2007.[1]

Fantaasia at Strömstad during her charter to Kystlink

Following the second Algérie Ferries charter, the Fantaasia was chartered to the Norway-based Kystlink[12] for three months (with an option for three additional months) from October 2007 onwards[1][13] to replace their MS Pride of Telemark that was out of service following an accident when the ship rammed the breakwater at Hirtshals, Denmark.[14] Before entering service for Kystlink, Fantaasia was docked at Cityvarvet, Gothenburg.[15] On 15 November, the Swedish Maritime Authority Sjöfartsinspektionen deemed the ship unsafe and prohibited it from leaving Cityvarvet until 18 faults found during the inspection were fixed.[16] Twelve of the faults were considered severe, including several permanently open watertight doors, a non-functional loudspeaker system, blocked emergency exists and non-functional winches used for lowering lifeboats.[17][18] According to Tallink, the inspection was made while refitting of the ship was still in process, which they cited as the reason why several onboard systems were turned off-line and normal safety procedures were not observed.[19] On 11 December, the ship entered service with Kystlink on its Langesund–Hirtshals and Langesund–Strömstad routes.[1]

On 15 April 2008, the Fantaasia was sold by Tallink to Kystlink, with delivery date set for June of the same year. She was eventually delivered to her new owners on 30 June 2008, subsequently re-registered in Norway and renamed MS Kongshavn. However, Kystlink ceased their traffic on 21 October 2008, with the Kongshavn subsequently laid up at Sandefjord, Norway. In March 2009, Kongshavn was drydocked in Fredericia, Denmark.[1]

Regina della Pace in 2010

Regina della Pace at Split on July 15, 2011

On 23 December 2009 the Croatian ferry operator Blue Line International was reported to have purchased the Kongshavn, with the intention of using her on their service between Ancona and Split.[4] Blue Line took delivery of the ship on 17 March 2010, renamed her Regina della Pace and initially re-registered her under the Maltese flag. Prior to entering service with Blue Line on 19 April 2010, the Regina della Pace was re-registered to Panama.[1] The vessel continues in service and was seen in July 2012 on that route. In 2017 the ship was sold to Ventouris Ferries and renamed Rigel III[20]