88 INTERVIEW An artist’s impression of a Baleària ferry being developed for the new Spain-Morocco route Building on regional green ambitions A green transport corridor between Spain and Morocco presents new ship and route opportunities for Spanish ferry company Baleària. CEO Georges Bassoul talks with Michele Witthaus Four years on from the departure of former long-term business partner the Matutes family in 2021 and the move to 100 per cent shareholding by the company’s president Adolfo Utor, Baleària continues to grow its presence in the competitive Mediterranean ferry marketplace and has big ambitions for the future. One major focus for Baleària is a public-private initiative linking Spain and Morocco that includes an investment of more than €150 million ($176 million) for the construction of two electric fast ferries, along with the electrification of the ports and the charging system. “This is an ambitious project through which we are taking on the challenge of transforming the Tarifa-Tangier line into an international benchmark for modern and eco-friendly mobility, after winning the tender issued by the Port Authority Bay of Algeciras (APBA) to manage the route for the next 15 years,” says Georges Bassoul, CEO of Baleària. “We are in the pre-construction phase of shipbuilding, which will be carried out at the Spanish shipyard Armon and is expected to take about two and a half years.” He says the project is aligned with Baleària’s innovation and sustainability values, as well as with its commitment to the regions involved, with the potential to unite two countries with a close historical relationship. “One of our objectives is to act as a catalyst for the economy, boosting local employment and stimulating an increase in economic, tourist and cultural activity, both in Tangier and in Andalusia.” In addition to APBA and Tangier City Port, other bodies participating in the project include national and international engineering and energy companies such as Cotenaval, Endesa, Amendis and Incat Crowther. The design of the new ships is similar to that of Baleària’s two natural gas fast ferries that operate in the Balearic Islands. With capacity for 804 passengers and 225 vehicles, they will be able to reach a maximum speed of 26 knots and will be highly manoeuvrable. A T-Foil system will be installed on each vessel to reduce vertical movement, while two high-capacity ramps at the stern will speed up operations and manoeuvres in port. “Each vessel will have an electric power output of 16 megawatts, provided by four electric thrusters powered by batteries with a capacity of 11,500 kilowatt hours, enabling them to complete the entire 18-mile crossing using exclusively electric propulsion and resulting in an annual reduction of 44,000 tonnes of
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