Legal Battle With Anek: GoinSardinia Gives In

Olbia - GoinSardinia’s adventure is coming to an end in the worst possible way with thousands of passengers stranded until mid September. The company is owned by 180 Sardinian entrepreneurs and was created last year to fight the fare increases.

After a summer of fires and repeated problems, the ship “El Venizelos,” the only ship rented by the company, was blocked by the Greek shipowner Anek Lines, which imposed the lockout on the ferry for non-payment of rent.

The situation deteriorated yesterday: hundreds of tourists waited for the ferry at the terminal in Olbia, which remained open throughout the night to guarantee assistance to the public.

The ship, which subsequently left for Livorno, will not sail again and from now until the end of the summer, about 20,000 people will be stranded. And while a solution is being found for the tourists who need to come home from their vacations, with the hotel owners in the northern Sardinian region of Gallura offering to host the GoinSardinia passengers who haven’t been able to find tickets on other companies’ ships off the island, the harbourmaster’s office in Olbia has opened an investigation to establish the possible responsibility of those involved in these events.

For the moment, in fact, the only person who is downplaying what is happening seems to be the top member of the Sardinian company, Giampaolo Scano. “The fuel was paid for regularly,” he said, “while the several-day delay on the payment of rent certainly doesn’t justify the lockout.”

Last year, during the summer which was its first in operation, the company fought an uphill battle to get off the ground. The service was interrupted in anticipation of a breakdown on the ship “Kriti”, which was also rented from a Greek owner.

And after the winter break, the summer of 2014 began with one delay after another. The Arbatax route was shut down a few weeks ago. And yesterday saw the end of the Olbia-Livorno line.