Wärtsilä Repowering Italian Ferry

The Italian ferry company Moby S.p.A has chosen Wärtsilä to carry out the repowering of its passenger ferry, MV Moby Zaza.

Wärtsilä was chosen as a partner because of its ability to provide the fastest delivery of the complete system and thus minimizing the downtime of the vessel. Moby Zaza is the last one in a series of successful repowering projects that started with MV Moby Corse and continued with MV Moby Kiss.

The scope of the agreement covers equipment as well as commissioning and systems integration. The Wärtsilä equipment provided include four new auxiliary generating sets with digital automatic voltage regulators, seawater systems with complete cooling circuit that allows operating in high sea water temperatures, exhaust gas system silencers and fuel systems.

The new equipment will extend the lifecycle of the installation. As the existing 30-year-old equipment is replaced with new Wärtsilä products, the vessel’s environmental footprint is considerably reduced, the company said. The Wärtsilä equipment complies with the most stringent environmental regulations. Wärtsilä will provide technical support to the yard in the equipment installation and systems integration phase as well as in the on-site commissioning and sea trials to ensure that all systems perform optimally.

“Wärtsilä is a key partner of our group. Their competence and quick reactions capability will allow us to have the vessel back in service with minimum downtime,” said Vincenzo Onorato, chairman of Moby S.p.A.

The Milan-based Moby S.p.A. is part of the Italian Onorato Group, one of the most prominent players in the Mediterranean ferry business, owning a fleet of more than 60 vessels under the brands Moby, Tirrenia and Toremar. The RoRo ferry MV Moby Zaza was built in 1982, with 288 passenger cabins and capacity for transporting 480 cars.

“Maximizing uptime is naturally one of the highest priorities of a ferry company,” said Serge Begue, vice president, Services South Europe and Africa, Wärtsilä. “Wärtsilä is happy to update MV Moby Zaza‘s installation with modern, more efficient equipment, which is also more environmentally sustainable. We value our partnership with Moby S.p.A. and look forward to continuing our cooperation.”