The story
Naviera Armas was founded in 1941 in Lanzarote by Antonio Armas Curbelo. Its initial activities were dedicated to the inter-island transport of salt and freight using wooden-hull boats. With the years, the company included steel-hull ships in its fleet and expanded to the old province of Spanish Sahara.
In 1975, the company introduced the first roll-on/roll-off vessels in the Canary Islands. However, it was not until 1995 that the company began to offer passenger services.
2003 saw the beginning of a fleet renewal plan with the arrival of the Volcán de Tindaya.
In 2008, the company started offering services to Portimão, Portugal with a stopover on the Portuguese island of Madeira. However, in 2013, the service to Madeira was abruptly withdrawn due to a dispute over harbour fees. Services resumed in the summer of 2018 as a seasonal offering between 2 July and 20 September, being operated by Grupo Sousa using Naviera Armas's ship Volcán de Tijarafe, which provided the crossing prior to the 2013 discontinuation. With a maximum speed of 23 knots, the crossing was scheduled to take 24 hours. In the summer of 2019, this service was provided using the ship Volcán de Timanfaya.
In August 2025, Baleària announced it would take over both Naviera Armas and Trasmediterranea. This was subject to approval from the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) of Spain. The CNMC approved the deal in March 2026.
In May 2026, Baleària took over the operations in the Canary Islands under the Baleària Canarias brand.
From Wikipedia’s article on Naviera Armas, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5