Moby-Aki

Under the orders of the Court of Milan, the 'Moby Aki', 'Moby Wonder' (IMO: 9214367), 'Moby Ale Due' (IMO: 9222522), 'Athara' (IMO: 9263655) and the 'Janas' (IMO: 9222534) were due to be sold at auction next week with a starting price of €229.9 million for the single lot. The 'Moby Aki' and the 'Moby Wonder' must be chartered back to Moby for a period of 15 years at a daily rate of €15,000 ($17,200) per day. Tihs came a few days after the Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) ruled the Mediterranean Shipping Co’s stake in the operator could erode competition. MSC sold its stake in the Italian ferry operator after that. The MSC subsidiary Shipping Agencies Services bought the minority stake in Moby, which runs ferry services between the Italian mainland and the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, back in 2022 when the operator was facing insolvency. But the AGCM opened an investigation in Nov 2024 due to competition concerns, as SAS also owns Grandi Navi Veloci, which competes on some routes with Moby. A link between Grandi Navi Veloci (also owned by MSC subsidiary SAS) which might lead to a deterioration in competition on routes where GNV and Moby were competing. The SAS will therefore sell its 49% stake back to the original owner Onorato Armatori in a deal accepted by the competition authority.

The death of four racehorses from the Clodia stable on the 'Moby Aki' on July 13, 2020, en route from Civitavecchia to Olbia,, valued at almost one million euros, which were to take part in a race at the Chilivani racecourse, was subject of a hearing. According to the findings of the investigations, the animals died of heat stroke in the ship's car deck during the crossing. The captain of the ferry, Antonio Scotto Di Cicariello, the first deck officer Francesco Lo Nostro, the cadet deck officer Ernesto Prudente and the driver of the truck in charge of transporting the horses will face a trial on Feb 28 2025. The accused are defended by Giovanni Cimmino, Francesco Longhini and Maurizio Mani. The requests of the prosecutor and the civil parties (the Clodia stable, represented by the lawyer Nazarena Tilocca, and the non-profit organization Horse Angels, assisted by the lawyer Giulia Cossu) were considered well founded. The judge for the preliminary hearing sent the Moby company and the road transport company Pieraccini to court as civilly responsible parties.

A passenger aboard the 'Moby Aki' which had left Olbia in the morning of April 15, 2022, was foind dead upon arrival in Livorno. The 55-year-old man was found by the crew inside the saloon bar, lying on the floor. The victim was traveling alone: despite the resuscitation attempts by the human health workers, his life could not be saved. Polmare and the scientific police immediately boarded the ship at the port for the investigation of the case.

Danish ferry and logistics company DFDS has reached an agreement with the Italian ferry company Moby to acquire its the two combined freight and passenger ferries (ro-pax). The company decided to purchase the ships, the 2001-built Moby Wonder and the 2005-built Moby Aki, in order to expand capacity on the Amsterdam-Newcastle route. Moby will in turn acquire the two passenger ferries currently operating on Amsterdam-Newcastle, King Seaways and Princess Seaways, built in 1987 and 1986, respectively. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of October 2019.