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 ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

and

cruiseferries A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while ot ...

between the Italian or French mainland and the islands of

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a 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 Nationa ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

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. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Looney Tunes characters as the external livery of its ships. Notable events include the ''Moby Prince'' disaster in 1991, which resulted in the death 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 ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. 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 The ''Moby Prince'' disaster was a major maritime accident resulting in 140 deaths. It occurred in the late evening of Wednesday 10 April 1991, in the harbor of Livorno, Italy. It is the worst disaster in the Italian merchant navy since World ...

, 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 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. 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 CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Limited (COMEC), formerly Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Limited (GSI), is the largest modern integrated shipbuilding enterprise based in Southern China. It was founded in 1954 and is ...

. 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 fleet

Former fleet

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

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in 2008. *''Agostino Lauro'' (1968-1974) scrapped in Aliaga,

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 (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 2003. *''Moby Prince'' (1985-1991) in 11th April 1991 the ship departured from Livorno 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 Livorno and then the ship sold for scrap in Aliaga,

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

in 2001. *''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 Fantasy'' (1992-2013) scrapped in Aliaga,

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

in 2005. *''Moby Love'' (1998-2017) as ''Sporades Star'' for

Seajets Seajets is a Greek/ Cypriot ferry company operating passenger and freight ferry services in the Aegean Sea. History Seajets was established in 1989. Today, it operates a fleet of 14 high speed vessels, and 3 conventional Ro-Ro ferries which serv ...

since 2021. *''Moby Gum'' (1998-2003) scrapped as ''Moby G'' in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

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

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

References

Moby Lines
a
Simplon Postcards
retrieved 3. 7. 2007

External links