Moby Group (Moby Lines, Tirrenia, Toremar)

[hhvferry]

In a couple of weeks there's some interesting things in Moby's booking engine for their Bastia (Corsica) services.

We'd expect to see the Moby Vincent running a daily round trip from Livorno and (for now) the Moby Corse on round trips from Genoa.

On 27th May they are supplemented for one day only by a parallel Livorno trip by the Moby Kiss (from the Piombino-Portoferraio line - this ship did Bastia sailings when first acquired by Moby).

Meanwhile the Moby Drea is scheduled exceptionally for just a single round trip on the Genoa-Bastia run on the same day. Not sure if I can believe that or not, I doubt she has been to Bastia before. Maybe a booking engine glitch or additional capacity for a special event?

mobybastia_270523.JPG

Part of this is now explained: the Livorno-Bastia route opens up for the summer tomorrow and it is the Moby Kiss not the Moby Vincent which will be making the sailings. The Kiss is in place until the 27th (the day mentioned above) after which the Vincent takes over.

The 1974-built Vincent had a series of mechanical issues last summer, hopefully this year isn't going to be a repeat. The Moby Kiss is a similar vintage but was re-engined in 2003, which was a key factor in her being saved from scrapping a few years ago.

[dogan]

Here are a few shots of Tirrenia Vincenzo Florio on 18th May 2023.
She moored in Palermo Bay to free some berth, as well as GNV Aries.







And 2 pictures from 12th May, when GNV Aries and Vincenzo Florio were in the harbour next to each other : how different bows and funnels can look like !! Yet, I find both ships very elegant.



 

[Appia1978]

The Vincenzo Florio is looking really nice :)

[hhvferry]

The Moby Vincent finally entered service today with a Livorno-Bastia-Livorno round trip.

She did indeed, as had been flagged, sail in convoy with the Moby Kiss, outbound at least. The Kiss, which had been covering for the Vincent's delayed start to the season, sailed Livorno-Bastia-Piombino, positioning her back in her regular mainland port to pick up Piombino-Portoferraio sailings tomorrow morning.

[hhvferry]

 
JANAS will start operating for GNV from 15 June and will carry out these routes:
 
Genoa-Olbia-Civitavecchia-Palermo-Tunis-Palermo-Civitavecchia-Olbia-Genoa.
 

Whilst on the face of it the move of the Janas to GNV is enabled by the entry into service of the Moby Fantasy (18th June) it's actually the Athara, coming out of her dry docking in Genoa, which frees her up and replaces her in service on the Genoa-Porto Torres route. The Janas's last sailing for Moby-Tirrenia is from Porto Torres on Monday evening, the 12th.

The Moby Fantasy meanwhile will replace a combination of the Moby Aki and the Sharden, which between them are covering the Livorno-Olbia and Civitavecchia-Olbia routes at the moment. Once the Fantasy is in service on Livorno-Olbia the Sharden flips permanently back to the Civitavecchia route whilst the Wonder returns to her summer operation, alongside the Moby Aki, which in its full form (not all legs are always operated) is Genoa-Olbia-Piombino-Olbia-Genoa-Bastia-Genoa.

[ManiaNave]

On the evening of Wednesday, May 31, 2023, the Moby Kiss ferry that was supposed to leave at 19:50 stopped in Portoferraio due to a breakdown (it would seem according to the passengers) and the passengers who had to leave with the Kiss had to wait until 21 when the toremar ferry "Stelio Montomoli" left in the direction Piombino, some passengers criticised the new disservice to Elba (of every company not only Moby) saying that someone should intervene, and that the ship should be removed.

Also today the Moby Kiss that was supposed to leave at about 19 from Piombino in the direction of Portoferraio remained stationary for reasons still unknown ( but. very probably due to failure)

Moby Kiss

[fabthi]

The municipality of Elba and the business association of the island should issue a lawsuit against ferry companies that are subsidized by the government to provide a regular and reliable service between the island and the mainland 

[hhvferry]

Are these routes subsidised though?

[ManiaNave]

Are these routes subsidised though?

yes, practically in territorial continuity like Arbatax -Cagliari.
 
The duration of the contract is 12 years and it expires this year, in fact the Tuscany Region is already ready to issue a new tender to assign the section for another 12 years

[hhvferry]

Looks like the Moby Wonder had a bit of a mechanical disaster overnight. She was sailing on the Genoa-Olbia route, making regular progress at around 21 knots before dropping down to around 3 or 4 knots, turning around and slowly crawling back to Genoa.

The loss of this ship or her (half-)sister the Moby Aki for any period of time has the potential to throw Moby's summer schedules into absolute chaos, covering as they do sailings on three or four different routes, the timetabling of which means their ability to maintain high service speeds is essential.

Moby Wonder 19-20/06/23

[ManiaNave]

Looks like the Moby Wonder had a bit of a mechanical disaster overnight. She was sailing on the Genoa-Olbia route, making regular progress at around 21 knots before dropping down to around 3 or 4 knots, turning around and slowly crawling back to Genoa.

The loss of this ship or her (half-)sister the Moby Aki for any period of time has the potential to throw Moby's summer schedules into absolute chaos, covering as they do sailings on three or four different routes, the timetabling of which means their ability to maintain high service speeds is essential.

moby wonder 19-200623.JPG

 Yes, the ship had an engine failure while underway

[fabthi]

Reading about repeating issues of Italian ferries (GNV seems also in trouble) makes me wonder about the health of the national ferry industry. 
Exhibiting brand new superships on one hand, on the other companies are facing the aging of most part of their fleet.
I have traveled mostly on Greek ferries but, for what I remember, I have never seen such an astonishing sequence of technical issues.

[sealynx]

New here on this forum, although I've been a ferry enthusiast for many years. I've sailed both Moby (Drea) and Tirrenia (Athara) some years before the two companies merged. I remember excellent service on with Moby, with plenty of food outlets, live music in the show lounge, friendly crew, and even though the ship was already rather old, she was in good condition and plenty clean. Also I remember Tirrenia's service to be lacking. Crew was indifferent, service was terrible (for example, you had to place every order twice, once to pay, and then bring your receipt to another crew member, to repeat the order and get the drinks), food was limited (especially breakfast, with only sticky and soggy 'croissants' available in combination with coffee), the carpet was dirty as were the outside decks, and there was no music at all (the piano bar did have a podium for a piano, but no piano, and the niches for speakers were empty.

Now I wonder, has service at Tirrenia improved since Moby took over? Or has is remained the same?

[hhvferry]

Looks like the Moby Wonder had a bit of a mechanical disaster overnight. She was sailing on the Genoa-Olbia route, making regular progress at around 21 knots before dropping down to around 3 or 4 knots, turning around and slowly crawling back to Genoa.

The loss of this ship or her (half-)sister the Moby Aki for any period of time has the potential to throw Moby's summer schedules into absolute chaos, covering as they do sailings on three or four different routes, the timetabling of which means their ability to maintain high service speeds is essential.

moby wonder 19-200623.JPG

 Yes, the ship had an engine failure while underway

Reports locally suggest she had a complete black out and had to be towed back to port, hence the very slow speeds being reported.

The track record of certain companies' ships having mechanical issues has notably got worse over the past couple of years and it's really hard to think it's anything other than some combination of an ageing fleet and reduced maintenance budgets. And it's not just affecting the oldest ships - although the Moby Wonder and Tommy are not in the first flush of youth they are more modern than the average but are also having issues.

[ManiaNave]

here is what was declared by Moby Lines:
"Yesterday evening, around 11.15 pm, the Moby Wonder ship, which departed from Genoa at 9.30 pm and headed for Olbia, suffered a blackout. Taking into account that the operations to restore the on-board generators were taking longer, the Company sent a tug that docked the vessel at 4.40 am. Shortly after, at 5.15 am, the crew managed to restore the generators to power the vessel electrically to restart services and main engines. As a precaution, the vessel was returned to port with the tugboats. The Company, with the support of the technical body, is carrying out the necessary checks in order to restart the unit as soon as possible. The Company also informs that all passengers have been informed and assisted and no criticality on board"

[hhvferry]

Moby Wonder back in service this evening, picking up with another Genoa-Olbia sailing.

[ManiaNave]

Hostage passengers on Moby Vincent

Odyssey for the passengers of the ferry “Moby Vincent” in fact the ship that was supposed to leave at 14 from Bastia in the direction of Livorno is stopped in the port course following a breakdown that delayed the departure and with the passengers “seized” on board, according to the passengers.

From the stories it emerged that the fault had been resolved at about 18 but on board the captaincy went up and banned the departure since there are no minimum requirements for the ship to sail.

The passengers were offered dinner

[hhvferry]

Vincent finally left port at around 2130 local time.

[ManiaNave]

Vincent finally left port at around 2130 local time.

It should arrive in Livorno by about 3 a.m (if it maintains 10 knots)

[vikingvoyager]

Vincent finally left port at around 2130 local time.

It should arrive in Livorno by about 3 a.m (if it maintains 10 knots)

Not bad - 2am arrival and she seems to have made 11.7kn

[hhvferry]

Moby Kiss has been drafted in from Piombino to cover the errant Vincent on today's Livorno-Bastia-Livorno trip. She left on time this morning and is plodding along at a steady 15 knots.

[fabthi]

Moby Vincent, 1974
Moby Kiss, 1975 🙄

[hhvferry]

Moby Kiss, re-engined in 2000. Although badly mistreated by her former owners since then.

[hhvferry]

Moby Vincent back on the Livorno-Bastia route today. The Kiss returned to Piombino yesterday evening after her Bastia trip. The timing is fortunate - a summer Saturday is not the day Moby would want to lose one of their larger ships from the Piombino-Portoferraio run.

[ManiaNave]

Hostage passengers on Moby Vincent

Odyssey for the passengers of the ferry “Moby Vincent” in fact the ship that was supposed to leave at 14 from Bastia in the direction of Livorno is stopped in the port course following a breakdown that delayed the departure and with the passengers “seized” on board, according to the passengers.

From the stories it emerged that the fault had been resolved at about 18 but on board the captaincy went up and banned the departure since there are no minimum requirements for the ship to sail.

The passengers were offered dinner

the ship could not leave because the French Captaincy believed that the failure in the engine room had not been repaired in a safe way and therefore did not give the ok for departure, when at 21:30 the ship left towards Livorno, however forced to travel the route with a speed constraint (10 knots)