The new ferry will follow the other two sister ships TRINACRIA and SIKANIA already employed by Bluferries in the Strait of Messina. (built by Megatechnica, Greece). It will have a hybrid propulsion with “zero emissions in port”.
Capacity 399 passengers and cargo capacity of a minimum of 22 trailers of 17 meters.
The Italian antitrust authority sanctioned ferry company Caronte&Tourist with a fine valued EUR 3.7 million for abuse of dominant position on the maritime links in the Strait of Messina.
Last year,Italy’s Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato launched an investigation in order to ascertain whether the Messina-based company took an irregular advantage from a dominant position in the maritime transport of passengers with accompanying wheeled vehicles and commercial vehicles with driver.
Analysis carried out by the Authority revealed, in particular, that Caronte&Tourist applied prices which are significantly higher than those charged by other operators, moreover not parameterized with respect to the costs that would be expected in the performance of the service. Moreover, these prices appeared to be particularly discriminatory towards passengers with car travelling alone.
The new ropax ferry ordered by Rete Ferroviaria Italia (RFI) and built in Genoa at San Giorgio del Porto and T. Mariotti shipyards has been successfully delivered in the port of Messina.
The ferry, suitable for the transportation of railway carriages, wagons, passengers, and vehicles, will soon enter service in the Strait of Messina.
The hull of the new unit (equipped with engines, generators, propulsion machinery and systems) was built in Porto Nogaro by Cimar shipyard and then towed to Genoa.
This new ship is LNG-ready.
A tender for the construction of a sister unit was launched last August and is expected to be awarded before the end of this year.