Bonaire Aqua Line

Last Updated on 25 May 2021

Bonaire lines up fast-ferry service

There’s a new fast-ferry service coming to ABC islands, or that’s the plan of Eugène Engelhardt, chief executive officer at start-up operator Bonaire Aqua Line (BAL). Kralendijk-based BAL aims to improve connectivity between Bonaire and its sister islands of Curaçao and Aruba by introducing a regular passenger/car ferry operation by first quarter 2023. At present, passenger travel between the three islands is almost exclusively the preserve of local airlines and there is no straightforward means of moving vehicles between them.

To get this service underway, BAL aims to acquire a used Austral-built RoPax catamaran. Engelhardt says the vessel he has identified for the route will have a capacity to carry 208 passengers, 56 cars and two 40 ft containers with a service speed of 48 knots.

Thinking

He spells out his thinking behind the proposed new ferry operation and told Caribbean Maritime: “All three islands have the necessary infrastructure to handle our chosen vessel. Based on all the technical information we have gathered from the seller and from our technicians, we then contacted the Maritime Authority of Curaçao, which is the organization which will check the entire vessel in order for it to be registered officially. The Authority has approved this vessel. In addition, the harbor masters in both Bonaire and Curaçao were contacted and they also approved the vessel.”

Engelhardt is also buoyed by independent studies, which clearly illustrate both the need and the financial viability of such a ferry service: “We have two reports (from 2016 and 2018) which have been financed by the island governments in Aruba and Curaçao as well as by the Netherlands. Both of these reports concluded that a ferry connection between the three islands had the right of existence. This was, for us, an open door to start further research and to come up with a business plan specifically for this project and with the aim of boosting the local economy and improving mobility between the islands.”