Baleària has completed the integration process of the Alboran and Strait perimeters of Armas Trasmediterránea, after obtaining all the necessary authorizations from the competition authorities of Spain and Morocco. The operation was effectively closed on June 30, according to the company, both in an official statement and in an internal letter addressed to the teams of the three brands —Armas, Baleària, and Trasmediterránea— signed by its president, Adolfo Utor.
The acquisition of the Alboran perimeter incorporates three vessels into the group: the JJ Sister, the Almariya, and the Volcán de Timanfaya. The integration of the Strait perimeter, on the other hand, includes the acquisition of various concessions and the vessel Ciudad de Málaga. With both operations, Baleària will take on nearly 250 employees. The company thus takes legal and operational control of the assets of Armas Trasmediterránea in both areas, in an operation that is part of the acquisition process announced in August 2025 and which already resulted, last May, in the closure of the Canary Islands perimeter.
Utor has pointed out the strategic importance of the operation, indicating that this union consolidates a long-term business project in which significant trajectories of the Spanish maritime transport converge. The president of Baleària has stated that the company takes this growth as the main national capital ferry operator, with a presence in all coastal connections of Spanish territory and with the capacity to guarantee the strategic and essential nature that maritime communications represent for the cohesion and territorial structuring of the country.
Utor has similarly emphasized that the company's roadmap is clear and that it will respond with solvency, innovation, and stability to users, transporters, teams, and territories, as it has been doing in the Canary Islands. To this end, the shipping company plans to invest and adapt the offer to the quality standards of the parent company Baleària, integrating teams and optimizing operations through an investment plan and improvement of the acquired fleet, aimed at service quality, passenger experience, environmental sustainability, and corporate culture.
The National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) authorized the operation concerning the Strait perimeter in March, and that of the Alboran perimeter in May, while the Moroccan competition authority gave the green light to both perimeters last week. The completion of these two areas occurs one month after Baleària took effective control of operations in the Canary archipelago under the brand Baleària Canarias, where a 45 million euro investment plan over three years is already underway for the modernization of the vessels, the incorporation of four new boats, and the expansion of the workforces.
In his internal letter to the collaborators of the three brands, Utor detailed that in the Canary facade, the changes are already tangible, with the incorporation and reorganization of vessels such as the Mercedes Pinto, the Pepita Castellví, the Sicilia, or the Josefina de la Torre, the reopening of the Morro Jable line, and the hiring of more than a hundred local workers. The president has expressed his gratitude in the same text for the receptiveness of the teams of Armas Trasmediterránea during this initial phase of the process.
With this operation, the resulting group adds nearly 4,500 employees and a fleet that exceeds 50 ships. The annual combined traffic volume will exceed 8 million passengers and 11 million linear meters of cargo, with a consolidated revenue of over 1 billion euros.
In his internal communication, Utor has also addressed the group's personnel management model, in response to what he has described as misleading information regarding the use of European flags of convenience. He explained that the company operates complex international routes in North Africa and the Caribbean, and the use of a European flag allows the embarkation of crew members of various nationalities with greater agility, a process that current Spanish regulations complicate. He specified that 68% of the parent company's workforce is of community nationality and that, of this, 90% is Spanish. Utor has also linked this necessity to the situation of full employment in the Spanish maritime sector, pointed out by the Social Institute of the Navy, which in his view makes it unfeasible to crew new ships exclusively limited to the national flag.
The president of Baleària has insisted that European flags do not displace Spanish professionals, as the minimum of 50% of nationals from the European Union required by the regulations is met, maintaining Spanish Social Security, national labor rights, and the protection of international agreements like the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC). He added that the model does not respond to cost motivations, as travel, per diem, and logistics costs associated increase management expenses compared to the national option, and reiterated the company's commitment to maintaining the Spanish flag on most of its owned vessels, as well as on all ships acquired from Naviera Armas Trasmediterránea, a commitment made unilaterally before the regulator and the unions.
With the closure of the perimeters of the Canary Islands, Alboran, and Strait, Baleària consolidates its position as a reference national shipping company in a maritime network that connects the Peninsula, the non-peninsular territories, and North Africa, including the routes of the Strait of Gibraltar that are part of this last acquired perimeter.