Fred. Olsen Express
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Shipping |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters | Tenerife, Canary Islands |
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Area served
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Canary Islands |
| Products | Ferry transport |
| Parent | Bonheur and Ganger Rolf |
| Website | www.fredolsen.es |
Fred. Olsen Express is an inter island ferry service based in the Canary Islands, Spain. The company's main colours are white and yellow, with blue and red writing. The company operates a fleet of six modern fast ferries, including the world's first trimaran fast ferry, the Benchijigua Express, which entered service in 2005. Fred Olsen Express operates five routes throughout the Canaries, its main competition on the inter island ferry market is Naviera Armas. The company is owned by the Olsen family controlled Bonheur and Ganger Rolf, that among other things also owns the shipping companies Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and First Olsen Tankers.
Fred. Olsen Express was founded in 1974 as Ferry Gomera, S.A. The first sailing took place July 8, 1974, when a ferry set sail from the Gomeran capital of San Sebastian de La Gomera for the town of Los Cristianos in Tenerife. The first ferry to operate the route was christened the Benchijigua, which is named after a small village located in the South of La Gomera. It also was in keeping with a long tradition of Fred. Olsen which was that all name of the company's ships should begin with the letter B.
Until this first sailing the island of La Gomera had practically been isolated and was only ever visited by a single boat which came to collect bananas and tomatoes, that the island produced for export to Europe, and in return dropped of supplies for the island. It was the opening of this first route by Fred Olsen that really brought about changes for the Gomerans. The ferry even set sail for emergencies, sometimes with only a single ambulance and patient on board, and for the simple reason that if the ferry did not take the patient the patient would have died.
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Wikipedia