Moby-Ale-Due

The MSC-owned GNV has selected names for the last two of a total of five former Moby ferries that have been transferred to the MSC Group and were to be operated by GNV going forward. The 'Moby Ale Due' will be renamed 'GNV Pegasus', and the 'Athara' will sail as 'GNV Phoenix'. The first vessel for which the new name was announced was the 'Janas', which will be renamed 'GNV Altair' . The remaining two former Moby ferries involved in the transaction, the 'Moby Wonder' and the 'Moby Aki', will not be renamed, as they were being chartered back to Moby.

Under the orders of the Court of Milan, the 'Moby Aki' (IMO: 9299393), 'Moby Wonder' (IMO: 9214367), 'Moby Ale Due', '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.

On Dec 19, 2024, at 10 p.m. a fire broke in the car deck of the 'Moby Ale Due', en route from Porto Torres to Genoa. The fire started from the engine of a refrigerated truck and was extinguished by the ship's own firefighting system, and the ship returned to the industrial dock of Porto Torres less than two hours into the voyage. Once docked, firefighters and the port authority boarded the ship and carried out an inspection. Once the checks were approved, the passengers spent the night on the ship in cabins free of charge, and disembarked at first light to take the bus provided by Moby to Olbia, from where they were able to leave on another ship to Genoa, the 'Moby Tommy'. Report with photo and video: https://www.unionesarda.it/de/sardinien/angst-um-268-passagiere-der-moby-fahre-feuer-in-der-garage-das-schiff-kehrt-nach-porto-torres-zuruck-ippxzyg2

Italian navigation company Cin has signed a deal with Unicredit bank, MPS, BPM, Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Banca Intesa Sanpaolo for the purchase of Tirrenia Navigation for 380 million euro (USD459 million), Baird Maritime reports. The final hurdles of the deal are the signing and ratification of the acquisition in Rome between the special commissioner of the company, Giancarlo D'Andrea and Ettore Morace, CEO of Cin, set to take place later this month. http://www.bairdmaritime.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13242:cin-buys-tirrenia&catid=96:cruiseferry&Itemid=116

400 people were stranded for seven hours in the night of June 26, 2011, aboard the "Bithia", which was stuck in the port of Palermo because of an engine faliure. The "Bithia" should have sailed from Palermo to Naples at 8.15 p.m., but suffered a generator failure. Unfortunately passengers and vehicles were already on board. The air-conditioning was not working and the bar was closed, so the passengers could not even be supplied with water for some hours.