FERRY NEWS: New boat looking for crew

The long awaited re-opening of the so-called 'interior ferry line', sorely missed since 2012, connecting the ports of La Gomera's capital San Sebastian, Playa de Santiago and Valle Gran Rey is back in the news once again. This time it is solid news and the new vessel to be introduced for this service can't be that far away as the shipping company Fred. Olsen has begun looking for crew for the ferry. Three ads have been placed which state that the company is offering posts as deckhands/waiters, engineers (mechanics) and a captain which preferably should be based in Valle Gran Rey as presumably the ferry will be moored there at night. Now's the time to move to Valle Gran Rey if you've got a skipper's ticket, and/or got experience aboard boats looking for a job.

I'm now pretty certain that on my next trip to La Gomera I'll be sailing to my destination aboard the new vessel. 

Here's more about this important ferry connection.

+UPDATE: New ferry...  (click)

Above the three advertisements for jobs on the new ferry connection by the Fred.Olsen company

New ferry to arrive this summer ?

Archive image of a former operator of the sorely-missed ferry connection, the 'Garajonay Express', in late 2005.

According to La Gomera's president Casimiro Curbelo the new vessel to operate the interior ferry line connecting the ports of La Gomera's capital San Sebastian, Playa de Santiago and Valle Gran Rey ''will arrive in La Gomera this June or July'' (2017). Curbelo made the announcement when addressing the Canarian parliament yesterday about the necessity to upgrade and improve the port of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey. We're keeping the fingers crossed !

Find out more about the ferry connection which ceased operations in 2012...
LATEST: FERRY NEWS: New boat looking for crew

La Gomera's institutions close ranks on ferry issue

Several politicians and representatives from La Gomera, among them the island's president C. Curbelo and the mayors of Alajero and Valle Gran Rey, held a meeting on Tenerife on Monday to discuss ways to reinstate the ferry service between the ports of Valle Gran Rey, Playa de Santiago and San Sebastian on La Gomera and Los Cristianos on Tenerife. This so-called 'interior line' ceased operations just a year ago despite having been declared an 'obligatory public service' by the Canarian government some years previously.

The ferry route had been operated by three different companies over the years and attracted 150.000 passengers per year on average. The meeting discussed several options and proposals and even an increase of subsidies for residents was suggested to make the service more viable and competitive. 

A few days before this meeting La Gomera's president had demanded that any new company covering the badly missed service should be exempt from paying harbour dues for the initial phase of operating the connection. Apparently  there is one company in particular very interested in serving the route with complete applications submitted already.

It is worth remembering that by ferry  it just takes about 30 minutes to travel from Valle Gran Rey to the capital San Sebastian, while the public bus needs about 110 minutes to get there. The route by sea would also reduce the amount of traffic that has to pass through the centre of the national park now.
UPDATE: The director of the department of transport of the Canarian government has since stated on radio that the department is actively 'looking for a solution which will facilitate companies wishing to operate the route by reducing the costs for same'.

Let's hope they are successful    Photo: ©gomeranoticias.com