Italian owner Vincenzo Onorato has struck a sale and leaseback deal with ICBC Leasing for two new ro-paxes.
The deal was revealed in his Moby Lines' annual report for 2018, according to Ship2Shore. No financial terms were revealed.
The vessels - the biggest ro-paxes ever built - were ordered last year by Moby Lines in tandem with two by MSC's Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV).
The Italian companies said four LNG-ready 2,500-passenger, 3,765-lane-metre ships have been contracted at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI).
There was also an option for four more vessels.
MSC's GNV operation will receive the first and third ferries, while Moby will take the second and fourth.
Deliveries are scheduled in 2021 and 2022.
MSC declined to comment on whether it had struck a similar deal.
Brokers told TradeWinds the price is over $130m per ship for the four firm vessels.
The two sets of two options would bring the total price up to $1.04bn.
Moby, which also controls Tirrenia and Toremar, lost EUR 62.6m ($70.11m) last year, down from nearly EUR 23m the year before.
Revenue was down from EUR 586.1m in 2017 to EUR 584.3m in 2018.
There was a more than 20% rise in bunker prices, as well as the significant cost of activities and new start-up lines, it said.
