Two elderly ferries recently put up for sale by Italian ferry operator Moby Lines are being sold for further trading in the Azores.
Sources say that Portucalence, a Greek-backed ferry outfit that operates services in Portugal’s Azores islands, is in the process of finalising a deal to buy the 5,400-gross-ton (gt) Moby Love (built 1975) and 5,700-gt Moby Baby (built 1966).
No official prices have been disclosed, but brokers say Moby has been marketing the pair for €1.5m ($1.67m) en bloc. Delivery is said to be immediate.
Portucalence has been without a ship since it sold its 7,800-gt ro-pax ferry Express Santorini (built 1974) to the United Arab Emirates' Salem Al Makrani Cargo Co last November. The ship was renamed Al Salmy 4 and redeployed to the Middle East.
The two ferries that Portucalence is now purchasing were deemed to be strong scrap candidates given their advanced ages, although TradeWinds is told that they have been kept in very good condition by their Italian owner.
Both have had long careers in the European ferry trades, with much of their time being spent in the English Channel for UK-based Sealink before being sold to Moby in the early to mid-1990s.
