13 October, 2022 by Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo

The Monohull “Albayzin” on Its Way to the Scrap Yard in Uruguay

It had been moored and abandoned since December 2018 in Mar del Plata (Argentina) and yesterday it was towed to Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay) behind the tugboat “Matrero”, where an engine will be removed for the monohull “Silvia Ana L” and then it will continue its final journey to Montevideo, where it is expected to be scrapped.

We are referring to the Uruguayan-flagged monohull “Albayzin” (IMO 9059054), which thus ends its maritime life in the service of Buquebus, a company that has owned it since its delivery in October 1994 at the shipyard of the Empresa Nacional Bazán in San Fernando (Cádiz).

Although it was built on behalf of Compañía Trasmediterránea during the presidency of Luis Delso and launched with the company’s corporate image – a ceremony attended by Luis López Mena and sponsored by Dolores Montoya, widow of Camarón de la Isla, at which we were present – by then the agreement with Buquebús was already sealed, a company that at that time had a presence in Spain.

It is the first of a series of three high-speed aluminum-hulled vessels powered by two Caterpillar 3616 TA engines, which totaled a power of 21,600 kW and drove an equal number of water jets, allowing it to maintain a speed of 36 knots. It had capacity for 450 passengers and 84 cars. The other two, named “Alcántara” and “Almudaina”, were part of Compañía Trasmediterránea.