New ferry from Fuerteventura to Morocco

Just a few days to go and the continent of Africa will be closer to Fuerteventura then ever. On the 10th of December ferry company Naviera Armas, who are celebrating their 65th anniversary this year, will start connections from Puerto del Rosario to Tarfaya in Morocco. The crossing will take three hours forty five minutes. The ferry that will carry out the crossings, the “Assalama” is 102 metres long and can carry 510 passengers.

From the 29th of September Naviera Armas has been doing ´test sailings´ to see if the “Assalama” would encounter any problems entering the port of Tarfaya. The Assalama is the smallest boat of the fleet and because of that, is the only one that can enter the relatively small harbour of Tarfaya.

The arrival of three ferries a week is expected to initiate the rapid development of economic activity in and around the harbour of Tarfaya. Several businesses have already shown interest in setting up premises in the port. This is made possible since the recent declaration of Puerto del Rosario as a Schengen port, which means that it is an international port and not one just serving Europe.

The ferry will sail from Fuerteventura at 13.30 0n M0ndays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Crossings in the other direction will be Monndays and Fridays at 08.00 and Sundays at 12.00.

Of course we all want the know what a crossing is going to cost, but at the time of writing this the Naviera Armas website isn’t giving out prices or available accommodation yet, although it looks like you will only be able to make reservations for chairs, the so called ´butacas´ and not for cabins, which seems reasonable for a short crossing like this.

Latest news on prices is that a journey in either direction "en butaca" will cost 49€, and that for a car 97€. Discounts will be available for people 60 or over as well as under 26, meaning the cost will be45€. A car with 2 passengers will cost 372€ for a return trip. The official start date for the route will be 12th January 2008.