The towing of the GNV Azzurra towards Aliaga and the rescue of the MSC Clorinda, which ended up in Taranto, were the last two operations carried out by the former Normand Ivan, which has now become the Aponte fleet's offshore emergency vehicle.

In less than two weeks, the ocean-going tug MSC Dragon has completed two long-range missions in the Mediterranean. On the evening of 17 October, it left Genoa towing the GNV Azzurra ferry, which was bound for scrapping in Aliaga, Turkey. A few days later, it rescued the 366-metre MSC Clorinda container ship, which had lost its propulsion, in Taranto. This operation has seen the tug intervene on burning ferries, damaged container ships and end-of-life vessels since 2024.

About MSC Dragons

MSC Dragons is not a 'simple' harbour tugboat, but rather an AHTS (anchor handling tug supply) vessel measuring 81 metres long and 20 metres wide. It was built in 2002 by the Northern Shipyard in Gdańsk. Until August 2022, it sailed as the Normand Ivan, after which it was transferred to MSC. It is now operated by MSC Shipmanagement in Limassol under the Liberian flag.

The port of call is Gioia Tauro, 

The port of call is Gioia Tauro, the group's main container hub in Italy. From here, the unit primarily departs for long-distance towing of the family's ships, ranging from MSC container ships to GNV ferries. At the end of July 2024, the Dragon was docked in Valencia, preparing to tow the damaged Tenacia ferry, which was affected by a fire on 8 July. In September, MSC used it in Gioia Tauro for an exercise involving its ship crews. The tests involved attaching the towline to damaged vessels, both at the dock and at sea, using the container ship MSC Regulus, even in adverse weather conditions.

The first documented field test

The first documented field test took place on 1 October 2024: the towing of the damaged containership MSC Lena F towards Valletta. As the port was approached, local vessels took over the tow and took the ship to the Palumbo Malta Shipyard (which is also 50% owned by the Aponte family). In July 2025, the Dragon took the GNV ferry La Superba under tow from Palermo, bound for the Aliaga scrapyard in Turkey. The ship had been idled since early 2023 after a fire broke out on deck 4 while in the Sicilian port. GNV had considered repairs, which were later deemed unviable.

Related: MSC adds another 20 24,000 TEU containerships to its orderbook

Damage to two of the four main engines made repairs uneconomical

The Dragon worked with the GNV Azzurra vessel twice in the same year. On 19 June 2026, while en route from Porto Torres to Genoa, the ferry suffered a fire in the engine room off the coast of Corsica. The fire was extinguished without any injuries, but the vessel was left without propulsion and had to return to Sardinia under tow. On 24 June, following inspections, the Dragon towed the vessel to Genoa. However, damage to two of the four main engines made repairs uneconomical.

A fire on board,

On 1 October, GNV announced the sale of the 168.5-metre-long vessel, built in 1981 and the oldest in the fleet, for scrapping. On the evening of 17 October, MSC's ocean-going tugboat left Genoa with the ferry in tow, arriving in Algiers around ten days later. The most recent mission, completed last week, involved the MSC Clorinda: a 366-metre-long, Panamanian-flagged container ship which was hit by a fire on board. The crew managed to extinguish the fire, but the main engine was damaged, and the ship was unable to continue sailing.

The ship had come from the eastern Mediterranean.

The ship, which had come from the Eastern Mediterranean, arrived in the harbour at Taranto under tow from the Dragon. The manoeuvre was then transferred to harbour tugs under the guidance of two pilots, coordinated by the Port Authority and the Ionian Sea Port System Authority. Mooring at the Molo Polisettoriale was completed on the morning of 30 October. The Clorinda will remain in Taranto for several weeks. During this time, the containers will be unloaded and the propulsion system repaired, with mooring surveillance provided by the Mooring Group.

The strategy of Aponte's group.

.Aponte's group's strategy is illustrated by the profile of these missions. After acquiring Rimorchiatori Mediterranei and entering the harbour towage business, MSC now has its own offshore vessel to rescue its ships and accompany the ferries of its subsidiary GNV at the end of their service life. All of this has been achieved without the need to resort to external salvage operators.

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