Volcan de Timanfaya at Arrecife, 18 January 2007, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 19 January 2007

Volcan de Timanfaya

IMO 9281334
Built 2005, Hijos de J. Barreras Vigo, Spain
Tonnage 17 343 GT
Length 142,40 m
Width 24,20 m
Draugth 5,70 m
1 000 passengers
206 berths
300 cars
1 350 lanemetres
2 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 16 800 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thruster
Service speed 23 knots

Volcan de Timanfaya is the second of two sisters built by the Hijos de J. Barreras shipyard in Vigo, Spain. The first sister, Volcan de Tamasite, was delivered in June 2004, with the Volcan de Timanfaya following in March 2005. Both ships were delivered as day ferries with no passenger cabins, but suitably for the warm climes they operate in there is a swimming pool on the aft decks.

The Volcan de Timanfaya entered service routes from Las Palmas to Porto Rosario and Arrecife in April 2005, but within the month she swapped to the Santa Cruz de la Tenerife-Arrecife -route (on which she is also photographed below). Early on, the Volcan de Timanfaya was rebuilt with additional cabins in place of some of her public rooms, resulting in addition of 206 berths in 56 cabins but a decrease of her passenger capacity from the original 1 466 to 1 000.

During the summer seasons of 2006 and 2007 the Volcan de Timanfaya made one weekly return trip from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Funchal, Madeira. Possibly the rebuilding described above was made for the purposes of this (presumably) overnight service. As of 2013 the ship remains in the Armas fleet.

The photographs below show the Volcan de Timanfaya departing Arrecife on 18 January 2007, and at Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the evening of 19 January 2007. All photos have been taken from onboard the Thomson Destiny. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Departing Arrecife. While Armas' ships are very neat-looking things, the current almost-all-white livery is somewhat dull.

The swimming pool mentioned in the text is located aft of the funnel, under the canvas arches.

At quay in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the evening. I'm not normally a fan of photos takes at quay, but since this is my only photo of the ship approximately head-on, I decided to go with it. Also notice the Armas 65 years logo on the hull that appears on the starboard side of the ship but not the port side.

Next time: Bencomo Express

Volcan de Tejeda in Santa Cruz de la Palma, 14 January 2007

Volcan de Tejeda

IMO 9081590
Built 1995, Hijos de J. Barreras Vigo, Spain
Tonnage 9 667 GT
Length 120,00 m
Width 19,50 m
Draugth 5,30 m
250 passengers
250 berths
1 023 lanemetres
2 Deutz diesels, combined 6 616 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thruster
Speed 15,5 knots

Volcan de Tejeda was the second in a pair of two sister ships built for the Spanish Naviera Armas for their traffic around the Canary Isles in 1995 by Hijos de J. Barreras in Vigo. Her elderly sister is the Volcan de Tauce delivered in March 1995. Volcan de Tejeda followed in September of the same year and entered service in November.

Originally she was painted in a livery with wide grey decorative stripes on the hull (as seen in the photo below). Sometime between mid-2008 and early 2009 she was repainted in the current Armas livery with much more white. According to the Armas webiste, she is no longer in service with the company as of 2013.

The photograph below shows the Volcan de Tejeda moored at Santa Cruz de La Palma on 14 January 2007, photographed during my Thomson Destiny cruise to the Canaries. Click on the image to see it in larger size.

Not a large or impressive ship, but an neat little ferry never the less.

Next time: Either some new wintertime images of the Silja Symphony or the first AIDAblu as seen during the Thomson Destiny cruise.