Between 1995 and 2001 the Fosen shipyard in Norway delivered a sequence of six large overnight ferries to Southern European operators, five of which were for Adriatic use by Minoan Lines and ANEK. The one other ship of the series was the 1999-built Carthage of COTUNAV (Tunisia Ferries) and, whilst there has been decent amounts of coverage of her Fosen half-sisters, this vessel has received scant attention, largely due to her less mainstream, by North European standards, area of operation.

The Carthage, alongside the veteran Habib and long-term Summer charter the El Venizelos, maintains COTUNAV’s services between Tunisia and Genoa and Marseille. The French operations are pooled with SNCM whose Danielle Casanova and Méditerranée are regular visitors to Tunis. In June 2010, before the revolution which led to the overthrow of President Ben Ali, I travelled with the Carthage from Marseille to Tunis on a sailing busy with migrant workers returning home for the Summer. The ship’s evening departure was delayed both by a late arrival of the incoming sailing from as well as some difficulties in embarking the full load.























































The ship finally sailed a couple of hours later than the scheduled 1700 but no one seemed in the least bit concerned as the busy load of passengers prepared for a first meal at sea whilst the hundreds of children running around the ship leant the ship quite a happy holiday air. We bought the three-meal package (evening dinner, breakfast and lunch waiter served in the Tanit restaurant) for 28 Euros and this turned out to be excellent value with food of a good standard, certainly when compared to some of the other North African ships.





The following day was a lazy one spent at sea; the ship seemed to lose more time on passage and we finally arrived in Tunis some five hours late, just after the departures of the northbound Sorrento and Daniele Casanova with the Splendid, MSC Splendida and the Habib all in port. Quayside, we were given a very warm reception, with TV crews, a band, flag wavers and assorted giant Disney characters waiting to celebrate our arrival.










The Carthage is a superb ship – certainly amongst the very finest sailing to North Africa, and this was a memorable and very happy crossing. The subsequent uprising and governmental overthrow has had a significant effect on both tourism and migrant traffic with SNCM recording as much as a 50% reduction in traffic compared to 2010. Nonetheless, all the ferries are still scheduled to resume their hectic Summer schedules even including the veteran Habib. The impact of the unrest on the financing and delivery of that ship’s intended 2012 replacement, the new Hannibal, has still to be clarified.

stunning pictures, I really admire your blog
All the best
Lovely pictures, thank you.
perfect report!
Now, in June 2011 Carthage is far from being as full!
Daewoo newbuilding has been confirmed by the CoTuNav two months ago. Let’s believe them!
my husband is working this year on this ship and its much full every day