Tirrenia (company)

Tirrenia is a privately owned Italian shipping company contracted by the Ministry of Transportation to run ferry services between Italy's mainland and its major islands. It currently operates a fleet of seven vessels.

Tirrenia Società Anonima di Navigazione was founded in 1936, resulting from the nationalization of many privately owned Italian lines. The company gathered a fleet of 55 ships. When World War II broke out, the number of lines were reduced. By 1942, 50 ships were sunk during the armed conflicts in the Mediterranean sea. After World War II, the few ships surviving the conflict were used to connect Italian islands, mainly Sardinia, to the mainland. The company became public and its name was changed to Tirrenia di Navigazione S. p. A. In 1965, the company launched the production of fully fledged ferries, the Poet class. An agreement was then made for Tirrenia to be taken over by Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione (Cin) in 2012. However, in May 2012 the competition authority opened an investigation into whether a dominant position in routes to Sardinia would be created. Tirrenia was privatised in 2012. In 2014, the company moved from its historic Naples headquarters of Rione Sirignano to Calata Porta di Massa, Interno Porto. Vincenzo Onorato also owns the other ferry company of Naples, Moby Lines. In 2019, Tirrenia raised its prices, leading to reactions from the weakened local competition.

Until 2010 the Tirrenia group included Siremar (Sicilia Regionale Marittima), which connected Sicily with the Aeolian Islands, Aegadian Islands, Ustica, Lampedusa and Pantelleria.

Ship name Flag Built Route Tonnage Length Width Passengers Cars Lanemeters Speed Knots Janas2002Civitavecchia ↔ Olbia36.475 GT214,6 m26,4 m2.70090091529Athara2003Civitavecchia ↔ Olbia36.475 GT214,6 m26,4 m2.70090091529