,_S%C3%A8te_01.jpg){kind=link}
The story
Founded by Aldo Grimaldi in 1992.1
GNV was created in 1992 by Aldo Grimaldi, initially as a subsidiary of Grimaldi Group. The first ship of the company, Majestic, entered service in 1993 on the Genoa-Palermo route, followed in 1994 by the sistership Splendid on the Genoa-Porto Torres route. Majestic and Splendid were the first cruiseferries ever operated by an Italian company.
The fleet was enlarged with new cruise ferries through the 1990s, and in 2000 the company went public. New routes were added, including Livorno-Palermo, Genoa-Olbia and Genoa-Barcelona. In 2002 and 2003 the new, large cruise ferries La Superba and La Suprema entered service. Lines for Tunisia, as well a new Civitavecchia-Palermo line, were opened.
In 2008 the fleet was enlarged with three ro-ro cargo ships, Audacia, Tenacia, and Coraggio, and a new Genoa-Barcelona-Tangier line was opened. In 2009, GNV became fully independent from the Grimaldi family and Grimaldi Group. In 2010 the company was acquired by the MSC Group; in the same year, GNV merged with SNAV, also a subsidiary of MSC.
In 2012, following the ceasing of the services by Comarit and Comanav, GNV opened new lines between Sète, Tangier and Nador. In 2015, GNV opened a new line between Italy and Albania.
The company, As of 2018, currently operates a fleet of thirteen cruise ferries, including some of the largest ferries in Europe. Its CEO is Matteo Catani.
From Wikipedia’s article on Grandi Navi Veloci, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5