English: The ferry Koningin Juliana at sea on October 17, 1968.

Built. 1968 Yard. Cammell Laird Class of Ship. Passenger Ferry Operator. SMZ Route. Harwich – Hook of Holland 1968-1994 Length. 131m. Gross Tonnage. 6682 Passengers. 1200 Speed. 21 Knots Status. Sank 1998

Built in 1967 by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead as Koningin Juliana for Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland of the Netherlands, it was used on the Harwich to Hook of Holland route until 1984 until sold to Navarma Lines and renamed Moby Prince.

Fire

At 22:03 on April 10, 1991, the Moby Prince left Livorno, heading to Olbia for a regular service, manned by a complement of 65 crew and 75 passengers. The ship was commanded by Ugo Chessa. While taking the usual dedicated route out of the harbour, the ferry's prow struck the Agip Abruzzo, which was standing at anchor, and sliced through its tank number 7. The tank was filled with 2700 tons of Iranian light crude oil. At 22:25, the ferry's radio operator broadcast a Mayday from the portable VHF transmitter.

The charred hull was moored at Livorno until 17 May 1998, when she made water and sank. The rusty wreckage was later raised and towed to Aliaga, Turkey to be scrapped.

The sinking of the Moby Prince was the worst disaster for the Italian merchant navy since the end of World War II.