Moby Dada freight contract terminated

The decision was eagerly awaited after the ship suffered several breakdowns in the middle of the summer.

Senior officials of the Algerian Ferries Company announced on Saturday, August 24, that it had decided to terminate the Moby Dada cargo contract.

Mohamed Tayyeb Abboud, chairman of the board of directors of the Algiers Ferries Company, explained the decision at a lively press conference in Algiers following an upheaval in the company’s ferry plans after the ferry suffered multiple breakdowns that could not be repaired during the summer.

The manager noted that the Morbidada had experienced several malfunctions in its engine and air conditioning systems, which led Algerian Ferries management to terminate the vessel’s charter contract, he said, “to protect the safety of passengers.”

He further stated that customers booked on the defective vessels have been taken care of by the Tassili 2 and El Djazaïr 2 vessels.

Algerian Ferries chartered the Moby Dada last February to strengthen its fleet for the summer season.

The ship was built in Finland in the early 1980s and has changed hands several times since then. Algerian Ferries leased the ship from an Italian owner.

In the summer of 2024, the ship suffered several malfunctions, the most serious of which was in mid-July, when the air conditioning system was affected as the ship left the port of Alicante (Spain) with hundreds of passengers on board.

Technicians from the Algerian Passenger Transport Company stepped in to repair it, but the ship broke down again and was subsequently closed permanently.

The unexpected incident has severely disrupted the transit schedule of Algerian ferries to and from Algerian ports.

Algeria Ferries has come under criticism throughout the summer.

Moby Dada freight contract terminated: Algerian ferry company explains

The chairman of the company’s board of directors explained that the disruption was caused by the limited capacity of the two ships that were offered as an alternative, Tassili 2 and El Djazaïr 2, and said that priority was given to families and passengers traveling in cabins. The compensation for the transfer to a “seat” is a 30% discount on the price of the purchased ticket.

Faced with criticism, Mohamed Tayeb Aboud defended the company’s record during the summer, highlighting its competitive pricing, with fares 40% cheaper than rivals.

Since June last year, Algeria Ferries has organised 173 crossings between Algerian ports and ports in France and Spain, transporting 146,000 passengers and 43,000 vehicles.

This summer, he said, the company was on track to execute 98 percent of its plan.

The official further promised that the next summer will be better than the current one and revealed that preparations for the 2025 summer have been underway for 15 days.

To avoid any unpleasant surprises, the end of the year will be used for ship repair operations.