Baleària floats out its first fully electric fast ferry, which will connect Tarifa and Tangier from summer 2027

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• Armon Shipyards in Gijón estimates that the two catamarans generate more than 300 direct jobs each day

 

Baleària has floated out its first fully electric fast ferry at Armon Shipyards in Gijón. The vessel will connect Tarifa and Tangier from summer 2027. The second vessel, currently under construction, will join the fleet after the summer. Both catamarans will serve the first green corridor between Spain and Morocco, with an exclusively electric power supply and propulsion system, eliminating emissions, noise and vibrations.

 

Baleària Chairman Adolfo Utor said: “This float-out turns a strategic project for Baleària into a tangible reality and brings us closer to launching the first fully electric maritime connection between Europe and Africa in 2027.” Utor added: “With these vessels, we are bringing forward the 2050 net-zero emissions target by several decades and demonstrating how innovation, investment and industrial collaboration can accelerate the decarbonisation of maritime transport.”

 

For his part, Armón CEO Laudelino Alperi said: “We are proud to contribute our experience and industrial capabilities to such an innovative and emblematic project. Beyond the collaboration between our companies, we want to highlight the excellent personal and professional relationship that unites our teams, built on mutual trust, understanding and a shared commitment. This project reaffirms our commitment to developing increasingly sustainable and technologically advanced marine solutions.”

 

The fast ferry that has just left the dry dock is the fifth vessel built by Armón for Baleària. The shipyard estimates that the two catamarans generate more than 300 direct jobs each day at its facilities, depending on the stage of the project. Construction also generates indirect employment, strengthening the shipbuilding industry’s knock-on effect on supporting industries.

The project to build the two vessels and electrify the ports of Tarifa and Tangier City has a cost of more than €200 million.

 

 

Technological challenge and industrial impact

The complexity of the manoeuvre is compounded by the technological challenge. The 87-metre-long vessel has an aluminium structure designed to combine low weight, strength and high performance, while incorporating a high-capacity battery system with 14 MWh of energy storage capacity.

 

The float-out, which involves flooding the dry dock in a controlled manner until the vessel begins to float, is one of the main milestones in the construction process. In this case, the operation also had a distinctive feature: the two catamarans are being built in parallel in the same dry dock, with space for one complete vessel and part of the second. During the float-out of the first vessel, the already assembled structure of its sister ship also became afloat, although it remained in position.

 

Following the float-out, the dock will be drained again so that the second catamaran can be completed in dry conditions. The first vessel, now afloat, will undergo interior outfitting and the gradual commissioning of all its auxiliary systems. Sea trials will follow to certify its operational reliability and safety before final delivery.