The MV Akdeniz was a 1955 built Turkish passenger ship that served on both ferry and cruise voyages for the Turkish Maritime Lines until she became a student accommodation and training ship in Tuzla, Istanbul Province for the Maritime Technology branch of the Istanbul Technical University.

The Akdeniz was the first of two near identical sister ships launched in 1955 for Northern and Southern Mediterranean ferry service, the other being the MV Karadeniz.

[1] In 1984 a boiler explosion on board the MV Karadeniz deemed her unfit for further operational service, so she was beached and scrapped at Aliağa in 1987.

Despite this setback the Akdeniz became extremely popular and heavily adored by the Turkish public, and because of this her owners decided it was time for a modernization.

[3] Her funnel has been repainted from the classic Turkish Maritime logo to blue; much of her original structure remains, as her superstructure has not been altered in any way over her 55 years of service.