Italy’s Links to Sardinia at Risk After Operator Halts Services

(Bloomberg) --

Supplies to Sardinia and other Italian islands are at risk after ferry operator Moby SpA suspended some of its services.

Italy’s officials called for an emergency meeting with administrators of Tirrenia, an insolvent company whose assets were bought by Moby in 2011, after they seized the accounts of one of the operator’s unit on Monday, according to a statement from the ministry of transport.

Moby has failed to pay a deferred installment for the acquisition. The company responded to the seizure by halting ferry services, it said in an emailed statement.

An external spokeswomen for Moby declined to elaborate further on the matter.

Moby had a 61% market share for cargo and trucks with Sardinia in 2018, according to a company presentation. It had a smaller market share of the traffic between mainland and Sicily.

Provision of medical and food supplies to the islands will be guaranteed by other ferry operators and in case of necessity an emergency plan will be drawn to secure the links, the ministry of transport said.

Moby defaulted on its bonds and loans this month.

Read more: Italy’s Moby Faces Asset Seizure Amid Mounting Financial Woes

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