Fred Olsen's ferry between Fuerteventura and Lanzarote

[Sam]

Fred Olsen temporarily suspends the Fuerteventura-Lanzarote link to carry out the ferry inspection

Improvements will be made between November 9 and 14 as a movie and series service aboard the Bocayna Express.

The Bocayna Express catamaran, which connects the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote with several daily connections, will carry out its mandatory biannual technical inspection from Saturday, where routine maintenance and improvements will be carried out, which will guarantee safety, service and safety standards. comfort that characterize the shipping company.

Inspection and maintenance tasks will be carried out in the Astican Canarian shipyard, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and, among others, a periodic preventive review of the propulsion systems will be carried out, to ensure maximum safety for passengers; its on-demand digital entertainment service will be incorporated On Board Club, which allows you to enjoy free movies, series, live television, among others, during your journeys; and a new elevator will be installed.

This temporary stop of the service, which lasts only five days, responds to the biannual vessel inspection appointment, scheduled since 2017, which is why the sale of tickets was disabled during these dates.

The company informs that its service will be restored normally as of November 14, operating at its usual times. The line between Fred's Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Olsen Express offers seven trips daily from each port, connecting Corralejo (Fuerteventura) and Playa Blanca (Lanzarote) in a 25-minute journey, which takes place aboard the fast ferry Bocayna Express, with capacity for 436 passengers and 69 cars.

Courtesy of Diario de Fuerteventura.

[Sam]

Fred Olsen Express has reinforced this week all the routes it currently operates in the Canary Islands with the aim of absorbing the increase in demand generated by the elimination of restrictions to move between the Islands.

For this reason, the shipping company has scheduled 53 more trips, with which it already makes 171 weekly trips between islands:

Between Tenerife and Gran Canaria, Fred Olsen goes on to make four daily trips from each port, while maintaining two on Saturday and Sunday.

For its part, between Tenerife and La Gomera, there will be two round trips every day of the week, including Saturdays.

Between Tenerife and La Palma it maintains a daily route and resumes the direct non-stop connection on La Gomera on Sundays.

Between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura Fred Olsen doubles the connections during the week, with a total of four routes in each direction, while the weekend will have three departures from each port.

Finally, the route between Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura is covered with two round trips every day, except Saturdays, with a single trip from each port.

Modification of schedules to adapt to the growing demand

Also, starting next week, Fred Olsen Express modifies some morning hours to provide a better service. The first journey of the day between La Gomera and Tenerife will depart from the Colombian Island at 07:30 and Los Cristianos at 09:00 from Monday to Saturday. While on the route between La Palma and Tenerife, from Monday to Saturday, the first departure is early at 05:15.

On the other hand, the first boat between Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria departs from Morro Jable at 08:00 and the departure from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is anticipated at 10:30 from Monday to Friday.

For its part, the interior route of La Gomera and the one that connects Gran Canaria with Arrecife, in Lanzarote, are temporarily suspended due to the great fall in demand; The drop that is expected to be maintained over a long period, greater than that of other lines, as there are alternatives, and this is associated with their high operating costs.

Safety, everyone's responsibility

Given the increase in passengers and the relaxation of some measures imposed by the state of alarm, since Fred Olsen recall the responsibility of passengers to maintain safety on board and ask to respect hygiene measures. To facilitate this information, it has launched a space on its website that summarizes the recommendations for a safe trip.

Fred Olsen Express has invested more than 210,000 euros in security measures since the start of the health crisis. These measures include exhaustive cleaning and disinfection protocols, reinforced with manual cleaning of the most delicate areas and daily disinfection with special machinery. Also the installation of methacrylate partitions and signage to ensure social distance and preferential payment by credit card. In addition, the company has placed free hydro-alcoholic gel dispensers in different areas.

The ship continues to be the means of transport that offers the most space to users. Currently, the company has all its operating rooms and has dispensed with the seals on the seats to make it easier for passengers to distribute themselves. Also, Fred Olsen Express maintains the limitation on the capacity of its ships, offering a maximum of 80% of the seats for sale.

Courtesy of NoticiasFuerteventura.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Not sure which route this ship was on.

From Radio Sintonia:

The delegate of the Government of the Canary Islands , Anselmo Pestana, has confirmed that Fred Olsen's Bentago Express ferry has been relocated to the port of Agaete Gran Canaria, after it ran aground last Tuesday .
Pestana stressed that the success of the rescue operation, which has not had to mourn any human loss, has been due to coordination between the different administrations and the state of the sea.
For now, the ferry will undergo a series of necessary repairs for its subsequent transfer to the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where it will be repaired.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

From Noticias Fuerteventura: 

The company will stop operating between both islands between November 3 and 10 by technical inspection

As of Wednesday, November 3, Fred. Olsen Express will temporarily suspend its high-speed service between Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, to carry out the periodic technical inspection of the vessel that covers it, in accordance with the maintenance plan agreed with the Maritime Administration.

The Bocayna Express catamaran will move to the ASTICAN shipyard, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, to undergo various maintenance work and routine improvements, as part of the mandatory technical inspection that the company carries out every two years on the ship to guarantee the standards of safety, service and comfort that characterize its service.

This temporary stop of the service will last eight days, from November 3 to 10, both inclusive. The company will restore the service normally from November 11, operating at its usual times.

Fred. Olsen Express has been operating since September 15 in the new berthing area of the Port of Playa Blanca, which has allowed the company to increase the number of daily trips. The line that connects Fuerteventura and Lanzarote offers daily up to eight trips from each port, connecting Corralejo (Fuerteventura) and Playa Blanca (Lanzarote) in a journey of 25 minutes, which is done on board the fast ferry Bocayna Express, with capacity for 436 passengers and 69 cars.

 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Noticias:

Fred Olsen adds the Buganvilla Express to the line between Corralejo and Playa Blanca.

A new boat comes to increase the number of frequencies that Fred Olsen has between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, it is the newly renamed Buganvilla Express, a boat recently purchased for the route that currently makes the Benchi Express, which will go on to make the Gomera route. In this way the Bocaina Express would remain for vehicle and passenger traffic and the Buganvilla express only for passengers.

 

It is a passenger boat, which does not transport vehicles and tries to give an alternative service to those travelers who go without a car to any of these islands, a service that makes direct competition to the Romero family boat in that same line and with that segment.

 

As puentedemando.com had already anticipated, Dofi Jet Boats has sold the catamaran "Dofi Jet Quatre" to Fred. Olsen Express, which will be renamed "Buganvilla Express". These days the painting works are carried out with the corporate image of the Spanish-Norwegian shipping company in the port of Arenys de Mar and its incorporation will replace the catamaran "Benchi Express", which will cover the interior line of Gomera.

 
Built in the Dalmau shipyard – where the catamaran "Benchi Express" took shape – it is a 29 m long and 9 m long fiber hull vessel, powered by two MAN engines and with capacity for 251 passengers.

link to article for pic