'After 35 years of difficult investigations', no culprit for Moby Prince

Four investigations but so far no judicial truth on the tragedy of the Moby Prince, which occurred 35 years ago in the harbor of Livorno: it was the evening of 10 April 1991 when 140 people died on board the vessel, which caught fire after colliding with the Agip Abruzzo oil tanker anchored just outside the port.

The prosecutor's office of the Tuscan city today announced that it had requested the dismissal of the latest investigation into the disaster: the office was proceeding on the hypothesis of the crime of malicious massacre. The new file was opened following the filing, at the end of 2017, of the report of the second parliamentary commission of inquiry of the Senate. In those conclusions the parliamentarians had "highlighted various critical issues, errors and omissions in the reconstruction of the facts carried out in the past". However, the Livorno prosecutor Maurizio Agnello explained today, "the time that has passed since the disaster has made the investigations into a fact of extraordinary gravity particularly complex: such a long interval can attenuate even the most vivid memories of direct witnesses who are still alive and makes it extremely unlikely that a technical consultant will be able to respond in terms of certainty to the questions posed by the judicial authority". Moreover, any negligent crimes, many years later, the magistrate observed, "are now to be considered irremediably extinguished".

To proceed, therefore, it would be necessary to demonstrate" that "someone intentionally acted with the aim of causing the death of 140 people, or at least accepted the risk of doing so, outside of a context of subversive terrorism or mafia crime, in relation to which the DDA of Florence has already investigated", holder of another investigation closed in February 2025. Agnello finally highlighted the regulatory constraint of ne bis in idem for "positions already subject" to previous investigations. the prosecutor's office, he concluded, "considered it necessary to carry out further investigations, also out of respect due to the victims and their relatives, who, in associated form, have constantly asked that the causes of the disaster be ascertained. This commitment was undertaken in full awareness of not being able to investigate merely suggestive hypotheses". But the request for truth "cannot be archived", the victims' families made it known after learning "with bitterness that the Livorno Prosecutor's Office" has asked to close the investigation and announcing that it will evaluate "every initiative permitted by law".

The two family associations - 10 Aprile and Associazione 140 - however trust "in the work of the commission of inquiry of the Chamber of Deputies, chaired by Pietro Pittalis, to have at least full historical truth: the two previous parliamentary commissions of inquiry - said the presidents of the two associations, Luchino Chessa and Nicola Rosetti - have called into question the somewhat incomplete judicial reconstructions, which for too long had attributed the tragedy to the fog and the conduct of the crew of the ferry. We ask that all the necessary institutional conditions be ensured so that the third commission can complete its mandate, without obstacles and with full access to useful documentation".