Ceuta Link has begun operating on the maritime route between Algeciras and Ceuta with the fast ferry Villa de Agaete, which resumed service this Friday, October 30, under Caflaja's new commercial name. The catamaran's deployment comes as the company, which is responsible for managing Armas Trasmediterránea's remaining assets in the Strait, arranges the transfer of the business to another shipping operator.
The vessel has returned to the route after spending several weeks at the Gibdock shipyard in Gibraltar, where refurbishment work was carried out and its previous corporate livery was replaced with Ceuta Link's colors and insignia. After completing its time at the shipyard, the catamaran moved to the port of Algeciras to prepare for its return to regular service.
Ceuta Link's launch brings to three the number of companies providing service on the Algeciras-Ceuta route, alongside Baleària and DFDS. The schedule announced for the autumn season includes a total of 19 daily departures from the port of Algeciras, running between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.
The maritime service is provided by four vessels. Baleària continues to operate the Cecilia Payne and Ciudad de Mahón on the route, while DFDS operates the Ceuta Jet. They are joined by the Villa de Agaete, which operates under the Ceuta Link brand.
Caflaja announced the new name on October 22 in a statement confirming that it had signed a binding agreement with another shipping operator to transfer the business on the Algeciras-Ceuta route. The deal includes the Villa de Agaete, other assets linked to the maritime route, and a commitment to retain all employees associated with the service.
The company explained that the transfer process remains subject to the relevant procedures and timelines, given the nature of the activity carried out on this maritime route. In this context, the use of Ceuta Link is a temporary commercial solution to maintain operations while the corporate transaction is completed.
So far, Caflaja has not officially announced the identity of the acquiring operator or the expected date for formally completing the transfer.
The process is related to the reorganization of Armas Trasmediterránea's assets in the Strait of Gibraltar and to the conditions set by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) for authorizing DFDS's acquisition of certain shipping line businesses.
In its decision, authorized in July and made public in September, the CNMC made the transaction conditional on transferring to a third-party operator the assets required to maintain Armas's operations on the Algeciras-Ceuta route. The authority considered the commitments initially proposed by DFDS insufficient to address the concentration risks identified in the market for maritime passenger and freight transport between mainland Spain and the autonomous city.
The competition authority imposed this condition to preserve the participation of a third operator on a route also served by Baleària, after analyzing the potential effects of integrating Armas's assets into DFDS.
The Villa de Agaete entering service under the Ceuta Link brand comes at this stage of the business transition, maintaining regular operations between Algeciras and Ceuta and retaining the workforce, as stipulated in the transfer agreement announced by Caflaja.
