MS Moby Zazà
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Moby Zazà'' is a ferry operated by
Moby Lines Moby Lines (Moby Lines S.p.A.) is an Italian shipping company that operates ferries and cruiseferries between the Italian or French mainland and the islands of Elba, Sardinia and Corsica. The company was founded in 1959 under the name Navigazi ...
between
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionBastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...
. Until 2015 she was MS ''Wind Perfection'', an
accommodation ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sai ...
owned and operated by C-bed. She was built in 1982 as MS ''Olau Britannia'' by Weser Seebeckswerft in
Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...
for Olau Line, who used her on
Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...
—
Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...
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 Stella or STELLA may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Films * ''Stella'' (1921 film), directed by Edwin J. Collins * ''Stella'' (1943 film), with Zully Moreno * ''Stella'' (1950 film), with Ann Sheridan and Victor Mature * ''Stella'' (1955 ...
and renamed MS ''Julia'' for service between
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
and
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
. This was a failure and after just two months the ''Julia'' was laid up. In 2009, she was sold to
Fastnet Line Fastnet Line operated a ferry service carrying cars, freight and passengers between Ringaskiddy, Cork, Ireland and Swansea, Wales on MS ''Julia''. The service ran from March 2010 until November 2011. History From 1987 to 2006, the Swansea– ...
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 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...
in
Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...
and placed on the route Sheerness—
Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...
. In August 1984 the ship collided with the freighter MS Mont Louis in the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
. 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 Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...
,
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, the ''Bayard'' was set in on
Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...
—
Hirtshals Hirtshals is a town and seaport on the coast of Skagerrak on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark, Europe. It is located in Hjørring municipality in Region Nordjylland. The town of Hirtshals has a ...
route in June 1990. For the winter season she was transferred to
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
—
Hirtshals Hirtshals is a town and seaport on the coast of Skagerrak on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark, Europe. It is located in Hjørring municipality in Region Nordjylland. The town of Hirtshals has a ...
service. Fred. Olsen sold its
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n 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 Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
—
Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...
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 Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. In March 2008 she was replaced by the new on the Kristiansand—Hirsthals route, and laid up at
Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...
. Between 2008-04-10 and 2008-06-15 the ''Christian IV'' sailed on the
Larvik Larvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Larvik (town) ...
—Hirsthals route, replacing – that had been sold to the
Mediterranean Shipping Company Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A., branded as MSC, is an international shipping line founded by Gianluigi Aponte in Italy in 1970. The company is owned by the Aponte family with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, since 1978. It is the ...
– 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 In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...
shipping and
stevedoring A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockworke ...
operator Stella Company Group, for
€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
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 Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
—
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
route. Passenger numbers on the ''Julia'' were low due to the bureaucracy related to applying a
visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...
in order to travel between Finland and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Additionally due to restrictions imposed by the
Port of Helsinki The Port of Helsinki (, ) is one of the busiest passenger ports in Europe and the main port for foreign trade in Finland. For passenger traffic, the port operates regular liner connections to destinations such as Tallinn, Stockholm, Saint Peters ...
the ''Julia'' could not carry any freight on the service. On 2008-09-20 the Russian
State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
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
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
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 Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...
, Finland and
Sillamäe Sillamäe (Estonian for 'Bridge Hill'; also known by the Germanised names of ''Sillamäggi'' or ''Sillamägi'') is a town in Ida-Viru County in the northeastern part of Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. It has a population o ...
,
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
. 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 "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...
and
Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
under the brand of
B&I Line The British and Irish Steam Packet Company Limited was a steam packet and passenger ferry company operating between ports in Ireland and in Great Britain between 1836 and 1992. It was latterly popularly called the B&I, and branded as B&I Lin ...
, 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 A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sai ...
owned and operated by C-bed and used at
West of Duddon Sands Wind Farm West of Duddon Sands Wind Farm (WoDS), occasionally also known as West Duddon Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm located south west of Walney Island off the coast of Barrow-in-FurnessWalney Wind Farm Walney Wind Farms are a group of offshore wind farms west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, England, in the Irish Sea. The group, operated by Ørsted
. 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. From November 2024 to February 2025, the ship covered the route between Golfo Aranci (Sardinia) and
Porto-Vecchio Porto-Vecchio (, ; or ; , , or (South)) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica. Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the marshy and alluvial east ...
(Corsica) as a temporary substitution of the Bonifacio -
Santa Teresa Gallura Santa Teresa Gallura (Gallurese: ''Lungoni'', ) is a town on the northern tip of Sardinia, on the Strait of Bonifacio, in the province of Sassari, Italy. The southern coast of French island Corsica can be seen from the beach. The city is one of se ...
line due to the technical unavailability of ferry ''Giraglia''.https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/connections-between-Sardinia-and-Corsica-restored%2C-the-Moby-Zaza-ship-is-operational/


References


External links

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