The abandoned merchant ship Lira leaves the port of Olbia after seven years: "The crew survived thanks to the heart of the Sardinians."

The merchant vessel Lira has begun its journey to the port of Piraeus. The operation was coordinated by the Olbia Maritime Directorate, with input from the Sardinian Port Authority.

This is the vessel abandoned in 2019 in the Mediterranean by a Turkish shipowner and sold at auction.

Olbia's maritime director, Gianluca D'Agostino , recounts the merchant ship's odyssey: "It was abandoned with all its crew aboard after the shipowner went bankrupt. The vessel was salvaged in 2016, and the crew remained aboard until 2019. Little by little, they managed to leave. The crew managed to survive primarily because of the heart of the Sardinian people, who brought them food, helped them, and clearly cared about them."

The merchant ship posed a safety and marine ecosystem concern . Intervention had already been carried out to prevent the vessel from listing and taking on water.

The Lira merchant vessel had occupied a quayside in the port of Olbia for years, a space that could have been used differently and more profitably by the regional port authority. Only after the cargo ship was sold at auction was it possible to proceed with its removal.