Corsica Sardinia Ferries: the story so far.
The ferry
company Corsica Line was founded In 1968 by Pascal P. Lota from Bastia: the
ferry Corsica Express (600 passengers and 60 vehicles) was the first ship to
sail between Corsica and Italy and this specific market developed from the foundation
of the society till 1981.
The company
grew and its famous yellow ships started to cover also some routes to France,
in addition to the routes to Italy.
With the acquisition of the Italian company TTE, Sardinia Ferries joined
Corsica Ferries, so that the company was able to enlarge its routes, including also
Sardina.
The ship "Sardinia Nova" was the first yellow ferry to connect
Livorno and Olbia. In 1987 the fleet was supplemented by the "Sardinia
Vera".
In 1996 the fast ferry Corsica Express opened the Nice-Corsica route and the fast
ferries were introduced also in the crossings between the French mainland and
Corsica and between Italy and Sardinia.
In 2001 the Mega Express Ferries were introduced, to cover some of the new
proposed routes between Toulon and the ports of Ajacco, Calvi, Ile Rouse and
Bastia.
2004 was also the year when the flagship of the company, the Mega Express
Three, was put into operation on the route to Sardinia.
In 2006 the Mega Express Four was added. In the meantime, Corsica Ferries has
welcomed more than 3 million passengers, about 2/3 of them on the route to
Corsica and 1/3 on the route to Sardinia. In 2007 the Mega Express Five was
bought and redesigned during 2007 and 2008. In addition, in 2008 the Mega
Smeralda was put into operation as the new beauty of the fleet. Mega Andrea
(2015), sistership of Mega Smeralda, and the Pascal Lota (2017) have recently
joined the fleet.