NEW FERRY LAUNCHED

The all-new Benchi Express at her launch yesterday (Image: Fred. Olsen Express)

Afloat and baptised !

The brand new ferry which will cover the so-called interior ferry line connecting the ports of Valle Gran Rey, Playa de Santiago, and San Sebastian de La Gomera was launched in Barcelona yesterday. The vessel was baptised Benchi Express with the customary bottle of bubbly during a ceremony with representatives of the Fred Olsen company. HOOOORAY and congratulations !

The purpose-built ferry will accommodate 250 passengers on two decks and there will be an open area on the upper deck available to passengers, while a cafeteria on the lower deck will offer drinks and snacks. The vessel will travel at an average speed of around 20 knots and being just under 90 ft long will be very easy to manoeuvre, which combined with the shortly to be installed floating jetties in the three ports will assure very fast turnaround times.

The reestablishment of a ferry service between the three southern ports of La Gomera will take some more time to become operational as the new vessel is not fully fitted out yet and will have to undergo lengthy sea trials, etc., before she'll obtain her seaworthiness and safety certificates while the ferry line will have to pass the usual  bureaucratic hurdles, but by the end of this summer the sorely missed connection should once again be a reality and its future assured. If you're planning a trip to southern La Gomera later this year, I'd recommend to wait with your ferry booking until the new service's schedule has been published. Find out more about the interior ferry line (click)...
+UPDATE: New ferry...  (click)

By the way, from midnight last night the ticket price for inter-island travel in the Canary Islands has decreased for residents as the subsidies from the Canarian government will now cover 75% of the regular price, leaving residents to pay just a quarter of the fare for travel by sea or air between the islands. Pity that I'm not a resident anymore...