Moby Lines

Moby S.p.A.
Industry Passenger transportation, Freight transportation
Founded 1959
Headquarters Milan, Italy
Area served
 Italy, France, Corsica, Sardinia
Key people
 Vincenzo Onorato, Chairman
Website www.moby.it
MS Moby Aki in Livorno, 2007.

Moby Lines (Moby Lines S.p.A.) is an Italian shipping company that operates ferries and cruiseferries between the Italian or French mainland and the islands of Elba, Sardinia and Corsica. The company was founded in 1959 under the name Navigazione Arcipelago Maddalenino (NAVARMA for short).

In 2006 Moby Lines purchased Lloyd Sardegna. The company is known for using Warner Bros. Looney Tunes characters as the external livery of its ships.

History

Moby Wonder in Livorno, 22 of February, 2011.

NAVARMA was founded in 1959 by Achille Onorato, and started traffic from Sardinia to the islands on coast of Sardinia with the small ferry M/S Maria Maddalena purchased from Denmark. In February 1966 NAVARMA purchased a second ferry, M/S Bonaficio, and started service between Sardinia and Corsica. The company slowly expanded, purchasing another ferry in 1967 and taking delivery of two newbuilds in 1974 and 1981. With the larger fleet, new routes to the Italian mainland were also introduced.

In 1982 the company acquired M/S Free Enterprise II from Townsend Thoresen, renamed her M/S Moby Blu and painted her in the "blue whale" livery that later came to characterise Moby Lines (the company name still remained NAVARMA at this point). The Moby Blu was over twice the size of NAVARMA's previously largest ship. By 1988 four additional larger ferries (all with Moby-prefixed names) had joined by NAVARMA fleet and additional routes to the Italian mainland were opened.

In 1991 one of the ferries of the fleet, the Moby Prince, was involved in the worst disaster in the Italian merchant navy since World War II.

During the early 1990s NAVARMA acquired further used ferries, which replaced the Moby ferries acquired ni the 1980s. During the same time "Moby Lines" was adopted as the official company name. From 1996 onwards the company fleet has grown radically with addition of new, larger and faster tonnage, including the newbuilt fast cruiseferries Moby Wonder, Moby Freedom and Moby Aki. Around 2003 Moby Lines entered an agreement with Warner Bros. to paint their vessels in liveries featuring Looney Tunes characters. However, only the larger ships have such liveries, the company's smaller ships either have similar graphics not featuring the Looney Tunes characters, or simply the Moby Lines' whale logo.

Fleet

Current fleet

Ship Flag Built Entered service Route Gross tonnage Length Width Passengers Vehicles Knots
MS Bastia Italy 1974 1974 Santa Teresa di Gallura—Bonifacio 1.936 GT 75 m 13 m 400 100 18
MS Giraglia Italy 1981 1981 Piombino - Cavo (Elba) 2.041 GT 75 m 13 m 400 100 18
MS Moby Ale Italy 1969 1990 Piombino—Portoferraio 3.937 GT 93 m 16 m 800 160 19,5
MS Moby Vincent Italy 1974 1990 Livorno—Bastia 12.108 GT 120 m 22 m 1.600 570 17,5
MS Moby Baby Italy 1966 1996 Piombino—Portoferraio 4.016 GT 101 m 18 m 1.100 100 19
MS Moby Love Italy 1975 1998 Piombino—Portoferraio 4.649 GT 115 m 19 m 1.200 250 21
MS Moby Lally Italy 1974 2000 Piombino—Portoferraio 8.570 GT 119 m 19 m 1.150 300 17,5
MS Moby Drea Italy 1975 2003 Livorno—Olbia
Olbia—Genoa 		22.528 GT 185 m 27 m 1.900 500 27
MS Moby Otta Italy 1976 2006 Genoa—Olbia 22.528 GT 185 m 27 m 1.900 500 27
MS Moby Tommy Italy 2002 2007 Civitavecchia—Olbia 28.915 GT 212 m 25 m 2.200 1.000 30
MS Moby Aki Italy 2005 2005 Livorno—Olbia
Piombino—Olbia 		36.284 GT 175 m 27 m 2.200 750 29
MS Moby Wonder Italy 2001 2001 Livorno—Olbia 36.093 GT 175 m 27 m 2.200 750 29
MS Moby Corse Italy 1978 2010 Genoa—Bastia 19.321 GT 152 m 25 m 1.200 450 21
MS Moby Zazà Italy 1982 2015 Nice—Bastia 21,699 GT 153.4 m 24.24 m 1,850 325 20

References

Further reading

  • Seville, Richard (2009). Mediterranean Ferries. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN 9781871947984. 
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