Naviera Armas


Naviera Armas is a Spanish company, founded in the 1940s, which operates a number of ferry services in Spain. The company mainly operates in the Canary Islands, with additional routes connecting the Canary Islands and the north African coast to the Spanish mainland. As of August 2019, the company operates a fleet of 11 ferries and 5 fast ferries.

History

Naviera Armas was founded in 1941 in Lanzarote by Antonio Armas Curbelo. Its initial activities were dedicated to the inter-island transport of salt and freight using wooden-hull boats. With the years, the company included steel-hull ships in its fleet and expanded to the old province of Spanish Sahara.
In 1975, the company introduced the first roll-on/roll-off vessels in the Canary Islands. However, it was not until 1995 that the company began to offer passenger services.
2003 saw the beginning of a fleet renewal plan with the arrival of the Volcán de Tindaya.
In 2008, the company started offering services to Portimão, Portugal with a stopover on the Portuguese island of Madeira. However, in 2013, the service to Madeira was abruptly withdrawn due to a dispute over harbour fees. Services resumed in the summer of 2018 as a seasonal offering between 2 July and 20 September, being operated by Grupo Sousa using Naviera Armas's ship Volcán de Tijarafe, which provided the crossing prior to the 2013 discontinuation. With a maximum speed of 23 knots, the crossing was scheduled to take 24 hours. In the summer of 2019, this service was provided using the ship Volcán de Timanfaya.

Fleet

Naviera Armas operates a fleet of eleven ferries and five fast ferries. The fast ferries were acquired as a response to competition from rival Canary Islands ferry company Fred. Olsen Express, which operates an entirely high speed fleet.
Not all of the ships operated by Armas are owned by the company. Those owned by Armas follow the company's naming convention: "Volcán de" followed by a name starting with the letter T.
NameBuiltEntered serviceTonnageNotesSource
Mar d'Canal198319961,638 GT
Volcán de Taburiente2006200612,895 GTLos Christianos de Tenerife – San Sebastian de La Gomera
Volcán de Tamadaba2007200719,976 GTLas Palmas - Arrecife
Volcán de Tamasite2004200417,343 GTTenerife - Las Palmas de Gran Canaria - Morro Jable
Volcán de Tauce199519959,667 GTLas Palmas - Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Arrecife, Puerto del Rosario
Volcán de Teneguía1997199711,197 GTchartered to Acciona
Volcán de Tijarafe2007200719,976 GTTenerife - Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Volcán de Timanfaya2005200517,343 GTMotril-Al Hoceima/Nador
Volcán de Tinamar2011201129,514 GTMotril-Melilla
Volcán de Tindaya200320033,715 GTCorralejo - Playa Blanca. Entered service in 2003. Crossing time 35 mins.
Volcán del Teide2011201129,757 GTHuelva - Santa Cruz de Tenerife

NameBuiltEnterered serviceTonnageNotesSource
Alborán199920146.346 GTIncat Hull 052. Timechartered to Naviera Armas, Los Cristianos - Puerto de la Estaca
Volcán de Tirajana200220156,581 GTIncat Hull 062, 98 x 26 metres, 35 knots operational speed. 900 passengers, 287 cars
Volcán de Teno200020166,360 GTIncat Hull 056. 96 x 27 metres, 38 knots service speed. 966 passengers, 290 cars. / Motril-Al Hoceïma
Volcán de TagoroJuly 2019August 201910,800 GTIncat 091. 111 x 31 metres, 35 knots operational speed, 1184 pass, 390 cars. Cost €74 million

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