Another piece of history, as living in Ermioni one is lucky to appreciate the history associated with this vessel.  'Neraida' was built in Italian occupied Croatia in 1939, under the name of 'Laurana'.  She was originally used in the Adriatic as a passenger ferry service.  With the outbreak of the Second World War, 'Laurana' served as an Italian rescue-hospital ship as she was fast and agile, easily getting to shipwreaks to collect any survivors and save wounded personel.

Of the seven rescue and floating hospital ships used by the Italians, only the 'Laurana' survived the war.  At the end of the Second World War, the Italian 'Laurana' was taken by the British Royal Navy near Malta, and used on the Malta-Syracuse ferry connection until the end of 1949.  John Latsis (1910-2003) a Greek oil and shipping tycoon, bought the 18-knot 'Laurana' in December 1949 from the Maltese ferry company and early the following year she sailed in the Argo-Saronic Gulf under her original name.  She was renamed 'Neraida' during 1950 in a ceremony held in the port of Hydra.  'Neraida', translates as Fairy or Sea-Nymph in Greek.

     'Laurana' as an Italian rescue and hospital ship during the mid 1940s      Reconstructed and renamed Greek passenger ship 'Neraida' in early 1950s

The 'Neraida' was considered one of the fastest ships of its day in Greece.  She became famous in Ermioni as being the only ship to leave Piraeus at 08:00 and arrive in Ermioni just after 12:00, calling in to Aegina, Methana, Poros and Hydra en-route to Spetses.  In addition to running regular routes, the deck of the 'Neraida' hosted social events, night cruises and balls where she hosted famous statesmen and public celebrities.  In 1956 'Neraida' was used in the international movie 'Boy on a Dolphin', which starred famous actors Sophia Loren and Alan Ladd.  She featured in many parts of the film, from Piraeus to the island of Hydra.

The time came for 'Neraida' to be de-commissioned from its Argo-Saronic service in 1974.  She was eventually reconstructed and completed in 2010, and since then become a floating museum.  'Neraida' is now docked at Flisvos Marina in Piraeus, close to the Naval Heritage Park, that includes the battleship 'G.Averof' and the Athenian trireme 'Olympias'.  She is open to the public with free admission, guided tours and educational programmes.  Prior to sailing to her final permanent home, 'Neraida' called in to say her final farewell to all her previous ports-of-call during her ferry service period.  With this, she was in Ermioni for two days, allowing visitors, before her final sailing from Ermioni on Friday 20th September 2013, on to Hydra, Poros, Methana, Aegina and Piraeus. 

Although 'Neraida' finally retired in 1974, after 24 years of faithful service for her owner John Latsis, due to the special emotional connection he had with his beautiful 'Neraida', he never sent his lucky ship to be scrapped.  Following his death in 2003, his family launched an ambitious project to assemble an archive of his life and work by rebuilding/converting the ship into a floating museum.  The ship now displays, preserves and exhibits all aspects of contemporary Greek business history of the 20th century, contained within the historical shell of the reconstructed museum-ship itself.  The 'Neraida' museum exhibition contains three main sections: 

• Exhibition space A presents the history of the ship from 1939 - 1974.
• Exhibition space B presents the chronicle of the rebuilding of the ship, from 2007 – 2010.
• The central museum space C focuses on the business career of John S Latsis, presenting many of his business decisions and actions within the context of international and Greek political, economic and social developments. 
• The multi function room, which contains a photographic exhibition, can serve as a conference space and lecture theatre, as well as host educational programmes.