Two fast ferries to La Gomera - changes to schedule

Soon to sail to La Gomera: Fast ferry Alboran   (Image: Trasmediteranea)

From this Thursday, March 20th 2014, the ferry company Armas which connects San Sebastian de La Gomera with Los Cristianos on Tenerife with their ship Volcan de Taburiente, will introduce a trimaran called Alboran on the route while their regular ferry Volcan de Taburiente is undergoing the annual review and inspection. The  faster ship will directly compete with the similar Fred.Olsen-operated Benchijigua Express 

The Alboran, built by the same yard in Australia, can also do the same maximum speed as the Olsen ferry at a staggering 42 knots per hour (about 80 km/h), but normal service speed is 36 knots. At about 300 ft the Alboran is 100 ft smaller than the Benchjigua (which happens to be the largest civilian trimaran in the world), and can accommodate about 900 passengers and 265 cars. This additional Armas ferry is owned by Trasmediterranea ferries under the Acciona brand and has previously plied routes in the Mediterranean. 

The Alboran will later begin sailing the regular route to El Hierro from Tenerife with occasional stopovers in San Sebastian de La Gomera, when the Volcan de Taburiente will be back in service maintaining the previous La Gomera connection. The current El Hierro ferry Alcantara Dos, also owned by Acciona will be withdrawn from that route due to problems with reliability, etc.. 

N.B.: A revised timetable will apply from Thursday for most departures. This will be published shortly. Check ferry timetables in English by clicking button Travel + Transport beside Home above). 

The Armas ferry Volcan de Taburiente