MS Moby Zazà

''Moby Zazà'' is a ferry operated by Moby Lines between Nice and Bastia. Until 2015 she was MS ''Wind Perfection'', an accommodation ship owned and operated by C-bed. She was built in 1982 as MS ''Olau Britannia'' by Weser Seebeckswerft in Bremerhaven for Olau Line, who used her on Sheerness— Vlissingen service. In 1990 she was sold to Fred. Olsen Lines and renamed MS ''Bayard'' for services between Norway and Denmark. In 1991 Fred. Olsen Lines was sold to Color Line and the ''Bayard'' passed under their ownership under the name MS ''Christian IV''. In 2008, she was sold to Stella Lines and renamed MS ''Julia'' for service between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. This was a failure and after just two months the ''Julia'' was laid up. In 2009, she was sold to Fastnet Line and entered service on their Swansea—Cork route in 2010, retaining her earlier name.

History

1982–1990: Olau Line

The ''Olau Britannia'' was delivered as the younger sister of MS ''Olau Hollandia'' on May 5, 1982. Two days later she was christened by Princess Margaret in Sheerness and placed on the route Sheerness— Vlissingen. In August 1984 the ship collided with the freighter MS Mont Louis in the English channel. Olau Line ordered larger replacements for the ''Olau Hollandia'' and ''Olau Britannia'' in the late 1980s (which were also named ''Olau Hollandia'' and ''Olau Britannia''). In preparation for delivery of its replacement, the first ''Olau Britannia'' was sold to Nordström & Thulin, Sweden on October 4, 1989, to be delivered in 1990. However, already on October 11 Nordström & Thulin resold the ship to Fred. Olsen & Co.

1990–2008: Fred. Olsen Lines and Color Line

In May 1990 the ship was delivered to her new owners and renamed MS ''Bayard''. After a refit at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, Germany, the ''Bayard'' was set in on Kristiansand— Hirtshals route in June 1990. For the winter season she was transferred to Oslo— Hirtshals service. Fred. Olsen sold its Scandinavian ferry operations to Color Line in December 1990, and in January 1991 the ''Bayard'' was renamed MS ''Christian IV''. The ship was kept on the Oslo — Hirtshals service until April 1994, when she returned to the Kristiansand — Hirtshals route. In March 1995 the ship temporarily sailed on the Moss— Kiel route, after which she reverted to her older route. The ship was refitted in 1999 at Fredericia Værft in Denmark, with additional restaurants and better conference facilities. She was refitted again in 2005, this time at Remontowa, Gdańsk, Poland. In March 2008 she was replaced by the new on the Kristiansand—Hirsthals route, and laid up at Sandefjord. Between 2008-04-10 and 2008-06-15 the ''Christian IV'' sailed on the Larvik—Hirsthals route, replacing – that had been sold to the Mediterranean Shipping Company – until the delivery of the new MS Superspeed 2.

2008: Stella Lines

On 2008-05-20 the ''Christian IV'' was sold by Color Line to Stella Naves Russia (Stella Lines), a subsidiary of the Finnish freight shipping and stevedoring operator Stella Company Group, for €13 million. The ship was delivered to her new owners in July 2008, and subsequently renamed ''Julia''. On 2008-08-01 she entered service on Stella Lines' Helsinki— St. Petersburg route. Passenger numbers on the ''Julia'' were low due to the bureaucracy related to applying a visa in order to travel between Finland and Russia. Additionally due to restrictions imposed by the Port of Helsinki the ''Julia'' could not carry any freight on the service. On 2008-09-20 the Russian State Duma approved a law change allowing passengers arriving by scheduled ferry services to visit Russia for up to 72 hours without a visa.

Despite this legislation change the Helsinki—St. Petersburg service of the ''Julia'' was terminated due slower than expected growth of the passenger numbers, failure to acquire additional funding due to the economic crisis of 2008 and larger than expected harbour expenses in St. Petersburg. On 9 October 2008 Stella Lines CEO Kari Juvas stated that the company would make the decisions about the future of the ''Julia'' within the next few days. According to Juvas the alternatives are selling the ship or utilizing the ship on a service between Kotka, Finland and Sillamäe, Estonia. Juvas had stated that Stella was interested in operating a ship on the Kotka—Sillamäe route already in July 2007. The Russia-based companies Morskoi Voksal and Inflot, along with the City of St. Petersburg planned on acquiring the share majority of Stella Lines and providing funding for recommencing service on the Helsinki—St. Petersburg route with the ''Julia''. However, on 3 November 2008 it was reported that the City of St. Petersburg had withdrawn from the purchase. On the same date Kim Sjöblom of Stella Lines stated the company are looking for other funders allowing the service to be restarted. These attempts failed and Stella Lines was declared bankrupt on 6 November 2008, with the ownership of the ''Julia'' passing to Stella's creditors Aktia Savings Bank.

Reportedly several companies have expressed an interest in buying the ''Julia'', but none have been able to raise the capital needed to buy her. On 17 February 2009 it was reported that one of the potential buyers for the ''Julia'' is Irish shipowner Frank Allen, who had acquired a loan from a Finnish bank to purchase the ship for use on a service between Cork and Swansea under the brand of B&I Line, which would be re-established for this service. A public auction to sell the ''Julia'' was held on 26 February 2009, but no bids were made. In a second auction held on 12 March 2009 B&I Line made the highest bid of €6 million, but confusion surrounded the initial undertaking of €1.5 million to secure the ship and she remained unsold. No further auction was held, instead the bankrupt's estate negotiated directly with potential buyers. In addition to B&I Line, Greek Halkidon Shipping Corporation and two unnamed Finnish companies were reported to have shown interest in the ship.

2012–2015: C-Bed – Wind Perfection

From 2012 the ship was an accommodation ship owned and operated by C-bed and used at West of Duddon Sands Wind Farm and nearby Walney Wind Farm. She was sold in December 2015.

2015– : Moby Line – Moby Zazà

Following bankruptcy of former operator, SNCM, Moby Line bought the ferry to operate their new France to Corsica service, together with MV ''Moby Corse''. She started in June 2016, but suffered an electrical fire, whilst at Nice, in August 2016.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moby Zazà
Ferries of the Republic of Ireland
Cruiseferries
Ships built in Bremen (state)
1981 ships
Former Color Line ships