CV Interilhas, the concessionaire of maritime transport in Cabo Verde, led by Portuguese group ETE, will expand its fleet with two ships this year, one of which will start operating in May in an investment of four million euros.
Jorge Maurício, vice president of the ETE – Cabo Verde group, which through Transinsular (51 percent), leads CV Interilhas (CVI), explained in an interview with Lusa in Mindelo, Sao Vicente island, that after the acquisition of the “Chiquinho BL” ship – chartered by the group to the Cape Verdean company, which entered service in February 2020, this will be the first owned by the concessionaire.
“In less than two years we are on the second ship already, arriving in the next few weeks. And by the end of the year we plan to bring another ship to build a fleet of ships suitable for Cabo Verde,” he explained.
Since August 2019, CVI has held the 20-year concession to transport passengers and goods between the archipelago’s nine inhabited islands, having initially used ships from local owners (49 percent shareholders in the company), which previously provided connections between the islands.
The new ship, which is 69 metres long – with capacity for over 200 passengers and 43 vehicles or 11 15-metre trailers – acquired by the group, is at the NavalRocha shipyard in Portugal, being prepared so that, after certification by the Cape Verdean maritime authority, it can start operating links between the islands of São Vicente, São Nicolau, Sal, Boavista and Santiago in May.
Without revealing the name of the ship, Jorge Maurício said it would be the name of a “personality of Cape Verdean culture” and that between its acquisition and preparation it represented an investment of “around four million euros.
It will improve accommodation for passengers and crews – with capacity for 16 crew members -, allowing “more useful sailing time” of up to 24 consecutive hours, also reducing the time spent in port and previously sailed between the various islands of the Bahamas and Florida (United States).
“The first ships were chartered because we started from scratch. The new ship will be owned by CVI”.
The third ship will be acquired in the second half of this year and will have the capacity to carry 300 to 350 passengers and 70 vehicles, he added.
“We started from scratch, we had to use the vessels that existed in Cabo Verde, on a charter basis. CVI’s aim is to have its own fleet of five ships and possibly one more,” as an alternative.
