Baleària pays US$93.8 million for three ferries

Eco Lux is the first of four GRP eco-fast ferries from Astilleros Gondan.
Eco Lux is the first of four GRP eco-fast ferries from Astilleros Gondan.

Spanish shipping company Baleària has paid almost €75 million (US$93.8 million) to buy three ships as part of its fleet revitalisation.

It bought the ferries Nápoles and Sicilia from the Swedish group Stena and the fast ferry Jonathan Swift from Irish Ferries.

Chartered in 2015 by Baleària for use on the València-Eivissa-Palma and Barcelona-Eivissa routes, the 186-metre Nápoles and Sicilia were built in 2002. They have the capacity for 950 passengers and 2,000 linear meters of cargo and can sail at a speed of 23 knots.

The Austal-built Jonathan Swift can carry 800 passengers and 200 vehicles at a top speed of 38 knots. It was operating in the Irish Sea, connecting Dublin and Holyhead.

As part of the fleet upgrade, Baleària has also ordered two natural gas-propelled ferries built by the Italian shipbuilder Cantiere Navale Visentini and four GRP eco-fast ferries from Astilleros Gondan.

The four 28-metre vessels, which will carry 350 passengers, will be named Eco Aqua, Eco Terra, Eco Aire and Eco Lux. They will each have a top speed of 28 knots.


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