Dry Docking of the “Benchijigua Express” at Navantia Ferrol

Two years after the previous occasion, the trimaran “Benchijigua Express” arrived this morning in Ferrol to enter the dry dock of the Navantia shipyard, where it will undergo the corresponding dry docking for a week. The reason for this move is that the Ferrol shipyard has the necessary dry docking facilities for a vessel of this type, which has a beam of 30.40 m, exceeding the dimensions of the syncrolift at ASTICAN.

In service since May 2005, when it arrived on its positioning voyage from Australia under the command of Commodore Servando Peraza García and the chief engineer José García Oliva –then the oldest crew member of the shipping company–, the crews of this vessel have achieved a very acceptable operational performance and level of optimization.

This has resulted in the construction of two other vessels of the same type, although slightly smaller –“Bajamar Express” and “Bañaderos Express” – which cover the Tenerife-Agaete route and are currently the most advanced in the world in their category.

Weighing 8,973 gross tons, 2,427 net tons, and 1,076 tons deadweight, it measures 126.65 m in overall length –116.85 m between perpendiculars–, 30.40 m in beam, 8.20 m in depth, and 3.98 m in maximum draft. It has capacity for 1,291 passengers and a garage for 341 cars or 123 cars and 450 linear meters of rolling cargo. IMO Code 9299056.

Photo: Fred. Olsen