Moby Lines (Moby Lines S.p.A.) is an Italian

shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

that operates

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

and cruiseferries between the Italian or French mainland and the islands of

Elba Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, a ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

and

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. The company was founded in 1959 under the name Navigazione Arcipelago Maddalenino (NAVARMA for short). In 2006 Moby Lines purchased Lloyd Sardegna. The company uses

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

characters as the external livery of its ships. Notable events include the ''Moby Prince'' disaster in 1991, which resulted in the deaths of 140 people.

History

Ferry Moby Wonder in Livorno on 22 Feb 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 Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. In February 1966 NAVARMA purchased a second ferry, M/S ''Bonifacioo'', 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. This resulted in 140 deaths. During the early 1990s NAVARMA acquired further used ferries, which replaced the Moby ferries acquired in 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

to paint their vessels in liveries featuring

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. In 2020, in a departure away from Moby Lines' signature business model of acquiring vintage tonnage for its routes, it was announced that steel cutting has started for Moby Lines' two newbuild vessels on order from the Guangzhou Shipyard. These newbuilds will be 238 metres (784 feet) long and roughly 69,500 GT, and specifically designed for the 7-9 hour Livorno-Olbia ferry crossing. These newbuild twins are earmarked to replace the ''Moby Aki'' and ''Moby Wonder'' between 2022 and 2023.

Fleet

Current Ships

Former fleet

*''Maria Maddalena'' (1959-1978) as ''Maria Maddalena'' for SNAP since 2005 *''Elba Prima'' (1967-2007) scrapped as ''Prima'' in Aliaga,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in 2008 *''Portoferraio'' (1974-2001) as ''Bomaris Legend'' for Bomaris Shipping since 2016. *''Citta di Piombino'' (1978-2002) as ''Don Peppino'' for GesTour since 2010. *''Moby Blu'' (1982-2003) scrapped as ''Moby B'' in

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 2003. *''Moby Prince'' (1985-1991) in 11th April 1991 the ship departured from

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

and collided with the tanker ''Agip Abruzzo''; the ship caught fire and 141 passengers died onboard. In 1998 the ship partially sank in the port of

and then the ship sold for scrap in Aliaga,

in 1998. *''Moby Dream'' (1986-1994) scrapped as ''Sardegna Bella'' in Aliaga,

in 2001. *''Moby Quest'' (1975-2009) scrapped as '' Fantasy Emerald '' in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in 2009 *''Moby Love'' (1986-1993) scrapped in Aliaga,

in 2011. *''Moby Will'' (1988-1993) scrapped as ''Aljubi'' in

in 2007. *''Moby King'' (1989-2002) scrapped in

in 2002. *''Moby Baby'' (1990-2017) scrapped as ''Anemos'' in Aliaga,

in 2018. *''Moby Vincent'' (1990-2024) scrapped in Aliaga,

in 2024. *''Moby Fantasy'' (1992-2013) Laid Up in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Since in 2013. *''Moby Magic'' (1997-2005) scrapped in Aliaga,

in 2005. *''Moby Love'' (1998-2017) as ''Sporades Star'' for Seajets since 2021. *''Moby Zeus'' (2006-2024) since as casamadora from TT Lines 2024 *''Moby Gum'' (1998-2003) scrapped as ''Moby G'' in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

in 2004. *''Moby Rider'' (1998-2007) scrapped as ''M. River'' in

in 2007. *''Moby Freedom'' (2001-2012) as ''

Finlandia ''Finlandia'', Op. 26, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was written in 1899 and revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the R ...

'' for Eckerö Line since 2019. *''Luigi Pa'' (1987-2017) former ''Isola delle Stelle'' for Lloyd Sardegna, as ''Cenk M'' since 2019. *''Giuseppe Sa'' (2006-2022) former ''Isola delle Perle'' for Lloys Sardegna, sold to an Arabic company in 2022. *''Eliana M'' (2006-2007) former ''Golfo del Sole'' for Lloyd Sardegna, scrapped in Aliaga,

in 2012. *''Maria Grazia On.'' (2006-2007) former ''Golfo degli Angeli'' for Lloyd Sardegna, as ''Venezia'' for Grimaldi Lines since 2019. *''Golfo Aranci'' (2006-2007) as ''Florencia'' for Grimaldi Lines since 2007. *''Massimo M.'' (2010-2013) Scrapped in 2013. *''Moby Vinci'' (2023-2024) Sold to

Grandi Navi Veloci Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) is an Italian shipping company, based in Genoa, that operates ferry, ferries between mainland Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, France, Spain, Albania, Morocco and Tunisia. It was established by Aldo Grimaldi in 1992. History ...

in 2024. *''Pietro Manunta'' (2016-2024) Sold to SALEM AL MAKRANI CARGO CO in 2024. * ''Moby Corse'' (2009-2024) Sold to Ferry Med in 2024. *''Bastia'' (1974-2024) Sold to Alilauro Gru.So.N. in 2024. *''Moby Ale'' (1997-2024) Scrapped in Aliaga,

in 2024. *''Moby Baby Two'' (2000-2024) Scrapped in Aliaga,

in 2024. *'' ''Moby Dada'''' (2016-2025) Sold for scrap in Aliaga,

in 2025. *'' ''Moby Zazà'''' (2015-2025) Sold to Atlantis Maritime S.A. in 2025. *'' ''Moby Drea'''' (2003-2025) Sold for scrap in 2025.

Routes

↔

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

: ''Moby Fantasy'' / ''Moby Legacy'' *

↔

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

: ''Moby Orli'' *

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

↔

Porto Torres Porto Torres (; ) is a (municipality) and a city of the Province of Sassari in north-west of Sardinia, Italy. Founded during the 1st century BC as , it was the first Roman colony of the entire Sardinia, island. It is situated on the coast at abo ...

(stop in

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

): ''Moby Ale Due'' *

↔

: ''Moby Aki'' / ''Moby Wonder'' / ''Moby Otta'' *

Piombino Piombino is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. Ov ...

↔

: ''Moby Aki'' / ''Moby Wonder'' *

↔

Portoferraio Portoferraio () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Livorno, on the edge of the eponymous harbour of the island of Elba. It is the island's largest town. Because of its terrain, many of its buildings are situated on the slopes of a tiny h ...

: ''Moby Kiss'' / ''Moby Niki'' *

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

↔

: ''Vincenzo Florio'' / ''Raffaele Rubattino'' * Santa Teresa Gallura ↔ Bonifacio: ''Giraglia'' / ''Bunifazziu''

References

External links

{{Commons
Company website
Shipping companies of Italy Ferry companies of Italy Transport companies established in 1959 Transport in Sardinia Companies based in Campania Italian companies established in 1959