The ferry’s last crossing
By Paulo Áureo
In April 2008 this blog greeted the new Portimão–Funchal ferry as “a start for a new era of traveling to the Madeira Islands”. The era lasted until the end of January 2012, when Naviera Armas’ Volcán de Tijarafe made its last crossing from Funchal to the Algarve.
The Spanish company blamed the port fees in Funchal. Loading or unloading a trailer, its representative said, cost about €140 to €150 in Funchal against €50 in the Canaries. Passengers were the other problem: they brought in half the revenue, and cheap flights were taking them away. As a captain who worked with the company put it later: who would rather spend 30 hours on a ship than an hour and a half on a plane?
Quite a few of us, as it turned out. But not enough.
Sources: Sul Informação, the shipowner on why the ferry stopped, Portugal Resident, ferry company stops Portimão–Madeira service