The deal completes the transaction first announced in August 2025, which had already seen the Canary Islands perimeter close in May under the Baleària Canarias brand. With the latest closing, the Dénia-based operator takes full legal and operational control of the Armas Trasmediterránea assets in the two remaining areas.

The Alborán perimeter brings three ships into the Grupo Baleària fleet: JUAN J SISTER, ALMARIYA and VOLCÁN DE TIMANFAYA. The Strait perimeter adds a range of concessions together with the ferry CIUDAD DE MÁLAGA. Around 250 employees transfer to Baleària under the two operations, whose jobs the company says are maintained and guaranteed.

Of the four vessels, VOLCÁN DE TIMANFAYA is the most modern, a 17,343 GT RoPax built by Hijos de J. Barreras, Vigo, in 2005, with capacity for 1,000 passengers and 1,350 lane metres at a service speed of 23 knots. JUAN J SISTER, a 22,409 GT unit delivered by MASA-Yards in 1993, offers 1,290 lane metres and accommodation for 806 passengers. ALMARIYA, the oldest of the group at 21,473 GT, was built by AG Weser in 1981 and carries up to 1,865 passengers. The smallest, CIUDAD DE MÁLAGA, is an 8,845 GT vessel completed at Astilleros de Huelva in 1998 with 636 lane metres and berths for 943 passengers.

Baleària president Adolfo Utor described the transaction as a strategic step that consolidates a long-term business project drawing together significant strands of Spanish shipping. He said the company was taking on the growth as the leading nationally owned ferry operator, present across every domestic cabotage connection and able to guarantee the strategic, essential character of maritime links for the country's territorial cohesion.

Utor added that Baleària would respond with reliability, innovation and stability for users, hauliers, staff and territories, as it is already doing in the Canaries. The company plans to invest in and adapt the acquired fleet to the parent group's quality standards, reinforcing crews and optimising operations through a fleet investment and improvement programme aimed at enhancing service quality, the passenger experience, environmental sustainability and corporate culture.

The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) cleared the Strait operation in March and the Alborán operation in May, while the Moroccan competition authority approved both perimeters last week. The closing comes a month after Baleària took effective control of operations in the Canary archipelago, where a three-year, EUR 45 million investment plan is already under way covering vessel modernisation, the introduction of four new ships and crew reinforcement.

Following the transaction, the enlarged group has close to 4,500 employees and a fleet of more than 50 ships. Combined annual traffic is expected to exceed eight million passengers and 11 million lane metres of freight this year, generating consolidated turnover of more than EUR 1,000 million.

© Shippax