The Grimaldi Group is expanding its offer of maritime connections between mainland Southern Italy and Sicily with the launch of the new Naples-Palermo service for the transport of passengers and freight. From next Monday 17 October, the modern ro-pax vessel Cruise Ausonia will be deployed on the new three-weekly line, guaranteeing a regular, high-potential service for both the tourism sector and the transport of goods.

The Cruise Ausonia is a modern unit that can carry up to 1,820 passengers and 1,920 linear meters of rolling freight (cars, vans, trucks, trailers, etc.). She is fitted with 192 cabins of various types (inside, oceanview, superior-class), all with air conditioning and en suite facilities, some equipped for passengers with reduced mobility. Other on-board facilities include a comfortable lounge with reclining seats, self-service and à la carte restaurants, cafeterias, outdoor swimming pool with solarium and a children’s play area.

The Cruise Ausonia also features cutting-edge on-board technologies that improve her performance while reducing its environmental impact. Her hull is coated with special silicone paints that optimize her hydrodynamic efficiency without releasing biocides into the sea. The innovative propulsion system of the vessel has been optimized for the new itinerary while the exhaust gas cleaning system allows to reduce sulphur and particulate emissions, so that their level is well below the limits in force. Finally, the ballast water treatment system installed onboard complies with the latest international standards.

As part of the new three-weekly service, the Grimaldi Group will offer evening departures (8.30 pm) every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from Naples and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Palermo, with arrival at the port of destination the next morning (6.30 am). In addition, the frequency of the line will double during the summer season, with as many as six departures a week from both ports.

“With the new Naples-Palermo ro-pax link we aim, on the one hand, to continue strengthening the territorial continuity between mainland Italy and the Italian major islands; on the other hand, to expand our presence in the port of Naples”, stated Group Managing Director Emanuele Grimaldi. “The new connection will represent a fundamental corridor both for passenger flows and for companies that transport freight between Sicily and the rest of Southern Italy”.

Sicily is at the center of an extensive network of regular maritime connections that the Grimaldi Group has built and significantly enhanced in recent years, offering links not only with the rest of Italy but also with other areas of the Mediterranean. Some of these connections, just like the new Naples-Palermo service, are dedicated to the combined transport of freight and passengers: these are the Livorno-Palermo, Naples-Cagliari-Palermo, Civitavecchia-Salerno-Palermo-Tunis lines. For the exclusive transport of goods, the Group offers the Genoa-Salerno-Palermo, Ravenna-Brindisi-Catania, Salerno-Catania and Genoa-Livorno-Catania-Malta services.