The Onorato family's ships are going up for auction: the Neapolitan shipowners have put five of their Moby and Tirrenia ferries up for sale following the Antitrust Authority's decision to accept the proposal from SAS (MSC), Moby, and GNV to avoid fines resulting from excessive concentration in the hands of a single "cartel." In short: Aponte has withdrawn the financing that had kept the group afloat. But the €243 million must be repaid following the sale of assets. And so the auction begins.
A tender has been launched through the Avacos portal for the sale of the Moby Aki, Moby Wonder, Athara, Janas, and Moby Ale 2 vessels in a single lot at a starting price of €229.9 million. The auction will open at 11:00 a.m. on November 12 and close four hours later, at 3:00 p.m.
"The sale of the Moby Aki and Moby Wonder vessels is taking place in the state in which they are found on the date of sale and delivery," it states, "and with the obligation for the successful tenderer to simultaneously enter into a 15-year bareboat lease for each vessel with Moby SpA, which will become the lessee, at a daily rent of €15,000 based on the terms and conditions set forth in the Bimco Barecon 2017 form, as logically amended. The successful tenderer undertakes not to change the name of the vessels."
A statement was also issued today by the Federmar, UGL, and USB unions, which met with company management yesterday: "It has been announced that the historic Naples-Palermo and Palermo-Naples lines will be discontinued starting November 24," worker representatives said. Workers remain unemployed.
