Built in 2023, JOSEFINA DE LA TORRE is 209 metres in length overall and can carry 280 trucks. The vessel also holds the record for the largest number of reefer cargo units handled in the Canaries trade, with 230 electrical reefer plugs installed to maintain refrigeration for agrifood and perishable produce. The ship will operate weekly services to Tenerife, Gran Canaria and La Palma. Its name honours Josefina de la Torre, a member of the Generation of '27 and one of the most versatile figures in twentieth-century Canarian literature and the arts.

With the new vessel in service, Baleària Canarias now operates four weekly connections between Cádiz and the Canary Islands using three ships: two dedicated cargo vessels, each completing one round rotation, and one combined RoPax vessel, which completes two round rotations. The company will link Cádiz with Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria three times a week, and with Santa Cruz de La Palma and Arrecife twice a week.

Baleària president Adolfo Utor said the new capacity and service programme consolidates Baleària Canarias' position as a reference operator in RoRo transport and as the leading shipping line for the primary sector, ensuring a reliable and sufficient offer for Canarian fruit and vegetable exports, particularly bananas and tomatoes.

Alongside JOSEFINA DE LA TORRE, Baleària Canarias operates a second dedicated cargo vessel, VILLA DE TAZACORTE, which runs a weekly service from Cádiz calling at Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma.

On the combined passenger and cargo side, the RoPax vessel VOLCÁN DE TINAMAR provides a weekly connection to Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, departing on Tuesdays on the Cádiz–Arrecife–Las Palmas de Gran Canaria route and on Saturdays between the mainland and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The vessel has capacity for 1,500 passengers and 300 vehicles, and has undergone a full refurbishment that added 120 cabins, a VIP lounge, an outdoor terrace with pool, solarium and bar, a self-service restaurant, a café-bar, a gift shop, a gym, a children's area and pet-friendly cabins.

Baleària Canarias also maintains inter-island connectivity for passengers travelling onward from the mainland service. Fuerteventura is linked weekly via Arrecife–Cádiz and connected to Lanzarote by the fast ferry VOLCÁN DE TINDAYA between Playa Blanca and Corralejo, while passengers from La Palma and La Gomera can reach Los Cristianos by fast ferry to connect with the Santa Cruz de Tenerife–Cádiz service. A free coach service is provided for foot passengers on both connections.

JOSEFINA DE LA TORRE was bought from UGR in May this year, for which it operated as ABU SAMRAH.

© Shippax