panish shipping company Balearia floated out on Saturday, October 24, at the Armon shipyard in Gijon, in Asturias, the first of the two all-electric catamarans that will link Tangier’s city port, Tanger Ville, with Tarifa from the summer of 2027. At 87 meters long and built in aluminum for lightness, the vessel carries a 14 MWh battery bank and will cross the strait on electric propulsion alone. The operation involved flooding the dry dock until the hull lifted; it came with a twist, since the twins are being built side by side in the same basin, so the structure of the second one floated too, without leaving its position.
The first ferry now moves on to interior fitting and the gradual start-up of its systems, before sea trials that will decide its delivery; its twin, still under construction, will only join the fleet after the summer of 2027. Counting both vessels and the electrification of the Tanger Ville and Tarifa quays, the bill exceeds 200 million euros. For Balearia’s chairman, Adolfo Utor, the float-out brings closer the launch of the first 100% electric sea link between Europe and Africa. Tanger Ville will thus become one end of the first green maritime corridor between Morocco and Spain.
Photo: Balearia.
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