St Petersburg-based St Peter Line (SPL) was widely rumoured this week to be tying up a deal to sell its two cruise ferries to Italy’s Moby Lines.

According to ferry industry sources, Moby is paying EUR 22m ($24m) for the 37,600-gt SPL Princess Anastasia (built 1986) and EUR 15m for the 34,100-gt Princess Maria (built 1981).

Reported terms of the deal indicate that SPL will continue operating, albeit with a reduced capacity.