Bonaire Aqua Line

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.”

Schedules

BAL is now moving at pace to get the service up and running and already has detailed sailing schedules in place. “These are incorporated in our website www.bonaireaqualine.com, which is under construction at this moment in time,” says Engelhardt.
"Investors interested in supporting or funding our project are more than welcome to do so. Our aim is to start operations in fourth quarter 2022 at the soonest or first quarter 2023 at the latest. The exact date is yet to be determined."

A chequered history

This fast-ferry project aims to fill a void in the transportation market between the three ABC islands. In the past and within the populations of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire there has been (and there still is) a pent-up demand to spend time visiting family and friends on neighboring islands as well as those traveling for business purposes. Currently, air transport is the only option available to the general public and, for many, this option is prohibitively expensive. However, it is possible to charter a boat with a captain for trip from Curaçao to Bonaire but, apparently, much more difficult to find a captain to take passengers from Curaçao to Aruba. In fact, demand has not been properly met since 1994 when the conventional ferry between the ABC islands and Venezuela stopped sailing. During the 20 years that the ferry service operated it proved to be both popular and viable. Back in 2001 a group of investors started a ferry service between Bonaire and Curaçao called ‘Chogogo’ using a 22-metre length Australian-built catamaran. This service only carried passengers and had restricted baggage allowances and ceased in 2005. Since then, no other operator has provided a passenger service. Back in 2016 a possible ferry service between Venezuela and Aruba and Curaçao was mooted by Caracas-based Naviera Paraguaná, which had plans to introduce a 600-passenger capacity ferry. However, this proposed service eventually came to nothing.

Game changing

Planned crossing times between Bonaire and Curaçao will be roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes. The journey between Curaçao-Aruba is more likely to be around 2 hours and 30 minutes. The total traveling time on both routes will be about one hour longer when compared to flying between the islands.

“Firstly, we are going to start with the Curaçao-Bonaire market and on this route we expect to carry nearly 37,000 passengers a year or a 20% share,” Engelhard calculates. “This is just 30% of the maximum passenger capacity of our vessel, taking into consideration all aspects of Covid-19 protocols both from our local governments as well as international. We will be catering for the Curaçao-Aruba at a later stage – even though we do have theoretical assumptions completed, but we are choosing to take one step at the time because changes are taking place on a daily basis for this market in relation to the Covid-19 situation. We will make this known to the public at the right moment in time.”  

Then there are cost comparisons between air and sea travel. “Our aim is to have compatible ticket prices, meaning that our clients will get a service that is worthwhile. We guarantee a different experience in traveling. In fact, we will be the game changer in the world of mobility between the ABC islands.