Same ship, two prices: the gap between Corsica Linea and La Méridionale

How can one ship carry two prices?

Ferry service to Corsica is franchised lot by lot. The Ajaccio–Marseille lot is the only one awarded to a grouping of two companies, Corsica Linea and La Méridionale: each runs its own fleet and sells, by allocation, berths on the other's crossings. One and the same departure — same hull, same date, same time — therefore appears in both catalogues, each with its own fare grid. Marseille–Ajaccio is, across all our readings, the only route where we observe this.

A price gap is neither an error nor a hidden surcharge. Each company sells its own terms on its own allotment of berths, with its own comfort tiers. In Tempu records advertised prices: it measures neither commercial decisions nor the capacity put on sale.

The advantage does not always sit with the same seller: across the hulls recorded, Corsica Linea and La Méridionale each turn up as the lower price, depending on the crossing.

How far apart are the two prices?

Across upcoming departures recorded on 24 October 2026, the average gap between the two companies for one and the same crossing runs from €7.37 (1 adult foot passenger, reclining seat) to €15.84 (2 adults + 2 children + car, cabin). The largest gap recorded reaches €101.13, on the 3 May 2027 departure.

A gap is not a price: it is the difference between two readings of the same crossing, taken on the same day. Each company's own price appears in full in the table of readings.

Which hulls is the gap recorded on?

The hulls concerned are Capu Rossu, Pascal Paoli, Alba Nova, Piana, and Capu di Muru, identified by their IMO number — the registration that follows a ship for its whole life, whatever its name or flag. All serve Marseille–Ajaccio, and each is sold by both companies.

The “operator” column names the company that runs the hull; the other sells berths on it by allocation. That crossover is what produces two prices for one departure.

On which departures was the gap recorded?

Each row below is one precise departure: its date, its time, its hull, the travel formula, and the price advertised by each of the two companies on the day of the reading. These departures have not yet sailed — so the price a company shows today may differ from ours.

What this changes for the traveller

On Marseille–Ajaccio, one and the same departure can therefore be bought at two prices. The only move these readings justify is to check both companies for the same date and the same formula: the gap is widest for 2 adults + 2 children + car, cabin, narrowest for 1 adult foot passenger, reclining seat.

These readings cover the standard fare including tax, excluding resident fares and promotions. They say nothing about comfort on board, punctuality or cancellation terms, which differ from one company to the other.

How these gaps are recorded

A crossing is the same for both companies when the hull (IMO number), the route, the date and the departure time all match. The price kept is the basket total for the formula, one-way. A cell with no reading stays empty: nothing is reconstructed.