• Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has purchased the former MEXICO STAR from Baja Ferries.
• The vessel has been renamed SARDINIA.
• She is at La Nuova Meccanica Navale, Naples (an MSC-owned yard), for painting and modernisation.
• The acquisition price and final deployment are undisclosed.

Possible uses:

• Expansion of GNV’s fleet, possibly for a Naples–Catania RoRo line.
• Container transport between Italy (Gioia Tauro, Naples, Genoa) and North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria).

Background:

• Sister ship MSC BRIDGE (ex STENA FREIGHTER) was converted to handle containers loaded by RoRo equipment instead of cranes.
• In North African ports, RoRo ships often berth faster than container ships, which face congestion.

SARDINIA – key data

• Built in 1998, Italy (Viareggio / Marina di Carrara).
• Length: 182.6m.
• Width: 27.4m.
• Speed: 22 knots.
• Capacity: 350 passengers.
• Cargo capacity: 2,715 lane metres.