The Antares ferry appears to be the next vessel destined to leave the GNV fleet. No comment from the Genoese shipping company, but industry sources report that the ro-pax ship has just changed its flag, now flying the Portuguese flag and registered in Madeira, a prelude to a probable upcoming decommissioning of the ferry purchased by the Msc Group in 2021, taking it over from P&O Ferries.
Built in 1987 by the Japanese shipyard Nkk in Tsurumi, the ferry was initially used by GNV on commercial routes to Sicily, while more recently it served the line between Southern Italy (Bari) and Albania. It is currently at anchor off the port of Durrës.
The ship has a commercial capacity of 2,100 linear meters, 350 cabins, and can accommodate over 1,000 passengers on board.
Given its age (38 years of service), it is possible that the GNV Antares is destined for scrapping (as happened to its sister ship GNV Aries a year ago), but it is also not excluded that it could continue to operate for other shipping lines.
The GNV fleet renewal plan continues in parallel with the arrival of the new ro-pax ships ordered in past years from the Chinese shipyard Gsi: the very recent delivery of GNV Virgo adds to the already completed entry into service of GNV Polaris and GNV Orion.
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