In the midst of the fleet personnel selection process for the second roll-on ship, to be called “Bahía Cargo”, which will arrive in October and be operational next November, Fred. Olsen Cargo Express has so far signed a captain, a chief engineer and two bridge officers from the Armas Trasmediterránea Group.
Just as it happened when the ship “Bentayga Cargo” was incorporated, in which Fred. Olsen also worked among the bridge and engine room officers of Grupo Armas Trasmediterránea and Distribuidora Marítima Petrogás, the uncertainty of the future surrounding the former makes it easy to find good and experienced professionals, thus ensuring its fleet staff and these their professional future.
The ship “Bahía Cargo” (IMO 9207895) comes from the Finnlines fleet and has the novelty of including a connection with Tenerife, so that the service will cross both ships with stops in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) and Arrecife (Lanzarote).
The occupation of the ship “Bentayga Cargo” is improving, although it is not yet at the desired level. It will be a matter of time before this is achieved, since Fred. Olsen has a good team working for this purpose and the weakness that the Armas Trasmediterránea Group is going through – which has dispensed with, among others, the cargo manager Jaime Cabrera del Pinoa great expert and connoisseur of the sector— is facilitating its objective.
Seeing the drift of the Armas Trasmediterránea Group in what concerns the Canary Islands —in September the ferry “Volcán de Taburiente” will be decommissioned from the fleet— and the dismantling by the Madrid managers of the team of Antonio Armas Fernandez Fred Olsen’s initiative, which dominated the market, is being welcomed, although it is also generating some misgivings among transporters and traders, because as the former’s weakness becomes increasingly noticeable and it continues to make decisions that weaken its capacity, the strength of the latter will end up imposing its conditions on the market.
Photo: Nelson Bourne to puentedemando.com
