The online auction site Parvadomus will carry out the auction, which will take place between 11.00 and 15.00 on 12 November. The five ferries will be auctioned as a single lot, with a starting price of EUR 229.9 million. Under the terms of its settlement agreement, if the auction does not raise enough money to repay the debt, the remainder will be placed in a third party organisation.

The auction lists two ferries, the 2005-built MOBY AKI and 2001-built MOBY WONDER, that operate for Moby Lines, and under the terms of the auction, they must be bareboat chartered back to Moby for 15 years. Both ferries can each carry 2,080 passengers and 720 cars.

The auction also includes three other sister ferries which are currently sailing for Moby subsidiary Tirrenia – the 2001-built MOBY ALE DUE, and ATHARA and JANAS, built in 2003 and 2002 respectively. These can each carry 2,700 passengers and 740 cars.

Moby said that after the terms of the settlement were agreed, that the deal would place the company on a sound financial footing by eliminating its debt. The ferry operator went onto say it would be consolidating some services and focusing on the newer, more efficient ships in the fleet.

Both MOBY AKI and MOBY WONDER will be bareboat chartered at a daily rate of EUR 15,000 each. The successful tenderer for the five ferries undertake not to change the names of the ferries.

Meanwhile, the historic Naples-Palermo route run by Moby will end on 24 November.

© Shippax