UK FERRY HERITAGE WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Although a planned vessel swap that would have seen DFDS Seaways North Shields-IJmuiden sisters Princess Seaways (1986/31,365gt) and King Seaways (1987/31,788gt) heading for the Mediterranean, to be replaced on the North Sea route by Moby Wonder (2001/36.093gt) and Moby Aki (2005/36,284gt), fell through due to complications at the Italian end, the Moby fleet still includes several former DFDS vessels, which have retained key roles alongside a far smaller line-up of purpose-built tonnage in the family-owned operation, which operates services linking Italian mainland ports with Sardinia and Corsica.

It all started in 1959, when the Onorato family from the island of Ponza, north-west of Naples, ship owners since the 1880s, launched NAVARMA (Navigazione Arcipelago Maddalenino). The company took from Palau and Santa Teresa Gallura, Sardinia to La Maddalenino.