Onorato Speaks Out

Onorato Speaks Out

A leading player in the Mediterranean ferry market has warned that there will be casualties before the year is out as the economic recession continues to hit consumer demand. “There are too many companies in the western Mediterranean and the law of the jungle is at work,” said Moby Lines president Vincenzo Onorato. “I think a number of companies will not survive the year.” Already-fierce competition in the region has intensified with the economic crisis as a number of middling-size companies battle for market share, adding vessels and services even as they slash prices.

An inveterate critic of state ferry company, Tirrenia, for what he claims is the misuse of its government subsidies, Onorato nonetheless expressed doubts that it would ever pass into private hands, as has been widely anticipated. “It is not true that the European Union has demanded the privatisation of Tirrenia,” he said. “What it has demanded is a public bidding process for the lines and subsidies.”

He noted that a number of Italy’s maritime regions are being lined up to take over Tirrenia’s local operations. “What kind of public bidding process would that be?” he asked. He suspects that, with pressure on the government mounting at a time of economic crisis, it was likely to “establish conditions for the bidding process that no private company could ever accept,” ensuring the company stays in public hands.