The ferry that wanted to come back
By Paulo Áureo
A year and a half after the last crossing, the ferry was back in the news, though not in the harbour. At a debate in Portimão in 2013, the captain who represented Naviera Armas in Portugal said the company had wanted to restart the Portimão–Funchal–Canaries route.
What stopped it, he said, was a list most islanders could recite. The authorities told the company to start the licensing process again from the beginning. Port fees in Funchal were “ten times” those in Portimão. And passengers, who had brought in half the money, now flew.
So 2013 passed without a ferry, as did the next four years. The story picks up again in 2018, and we will get to it.
Sources: Sul Informação, Spanish shipowner wanted to restart the Portimão–Funchal ferry