Tenerife Ports Recognizes Suardíaz's "Historical Loyalty"

The Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has recognized the Suardíaz Group for its "historical loyalty" to the Tenerife port, which dates back to the origins of the Asturian shipping company, although its greatest presence has occurred since 1965. Juan Riva, on behalf of the shipping group he presides over, received a commemorative plaque from the president of Tenerife Ports, Ricardo Melchior Navarro, on April 1st as a gesture of gratitude.

In addition to the aforementioned, the event held at the Port Authority's headquarters was attended by the port director, José Rafael Díaz Hernández; the director of Vapores Suardíaz in Tenerife, Sherry Woods; and the Operations Director, Rafael Rolo González.

Grupo Suardiaz, one of the most established and traditional in the Spanish maritime world, has been in existence for over a century, although it was in 1944 when Vapores Suardiaz was created at the initiative of brothers Rafael and José Riva Suardiaz. Since the beginning of its maritime activities, it has always had its own fleet, first as coastal vessels and later of larger size, including the timber carriers “Rivadeluna” and “Rivademar”, which called at the Tenerife port on their journeys to Guinea, as well as other coastal vessels named “Maestrín”, “Golondrín”, “Pachina”, “Toralín”, “Monte Berretín”, “Monte Balerdi”, “Nuria Alsina”, and the second “Rivademar”.

Suardíaz is a pioneer in Spain in the introduction of roll-on/roll-off cargo. We recall the four vessels named “Rivanalón”, “Rivagijón”, “Rivamahón”, and “Rivanervión”, which were followed by larger vessels as traffic demand increased. Among them are the ships named “Antonio Suardiaz”, “Rivainfanzón”, “Sancho Panza”, “Goya”, “Roline”, “Arroyofrío Uno”, “Arroyofrío Dos”, “Velázquez”, and “Cervantes”, all of which are well-known in the Tenerife port.

Other new generation ships, including the vehicle transports “Iván”, “Tenerife Car”, and “Gran Canaria Car”, share voyages with the five vessels of the “L’ Audace” series, built at the Barreras shipyard in Vigo, several of which frequently visit the Tenerife port. It is also worth noting that all the ships of this company flagged in Spain are registered in the naval registry of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Suardíaz has also been present in other traffics, such as bunkering and crude oil tankers.

Currently, as we have already reported in this section, Grupo Suardiaz offers two regular weekly routes between Tenerife and Europe, one with connections to the ports in the northern part of the continent and another to the Mediterranean area, touching Casablanca and Barcelona. The first of these is served by the vessels “Galicia”, “Viking of Oslo”, and “Verona”, the latter having made its first stop at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on February 14th, with 680 vehicles, highlighting the potential of this new connection promoted by Suardíaz.

Photo: provided