DFDS has bought a ferry from Spanish shipping company Naviera Armas and will add it to its Spain-Morocco service in November. The Danish shipping company completed the deal on 8 October after getting approval from competition authorities in Spain and Morocco. The Volcán de Tamasite, which will be renamed Marhaba Seaways, is due to start sailing between Algeciras and Tanger Med in mid-November.
The purchase will increase DFDS’s fleet on the route from two ships to three.
DFDS agreed to buy the ferry for DKK 240m ($37.4m) in August 2025. The deal was part of a wider debt-restructuring and asset-sale programme at Naviera Armas.
DFDS expects the new ferry to generate about DKK 500m ($78m) in additional annual revenue from 2026.
“The Strait of Gibraltar constitutes an essential axis for trade and travel, and we are pleased to continue serving the region with additional capacity,” DFDS chief executive Michael Hansen said. “This new offering will bring greater flexibility and strengthen connectivity, both for our freight customers and our passengers.”
The Marhaba Seaways is a Ro-Pax ferry that can carry up to 1,469 passengers and 1,414 lane metres of freight. It has already operated on the Algeciras-Tanger Med route for several years.
The ship will join a DFDS network that handles more than 10,000 sailings each year.
The main goods carried across the Strait include fresh produce, car parts, textiles and other industrial goods.
The route is also important for the growing manufacturing links between Spain, Morocco and the wider European market. Car makers such as Renault in Tangier and Stellantis in Kenitra rely on regular Ro-Ro services to move parts and finished vehicles. Agricultural products, textiles, industrial machinery and other goods also cross the Strait.
Ronny Moriana Glindemann, DFDS’s managing director for the Strait of Gibraltar, said the third ship would give the company more flexibility to handle rising demand. DFDS will also take over the existing operating permits for the route.
DFDS entered the Strait of Gibraltar market in late 2023 after acquiring FRS Iberia/Maroc. The company initially operated two main ferries on the Algeciras-Tanger Med route.
The new ferry is part of a wider expansion of DFDS’s short-sea operations in the Mediterranean. The company is seeking to benefit from growing trade between North Africa and western Europe as more companies move parts of their production closer to European markets.
Tanger Med has become Africa’s largest container and Ro-Ro port and is a major link between European and North African supply chains.
DFDS is headquartered in Copenhagen and is listed on the stock exchange. It has annual revenue of DKK 32bn and about 15,000 employees. Its operations include ferry, rail and road freight services, as well as short-sea and overnight passenger routes.
The acquisition also marks a shift in DFDS’s position in the Strait. The company entered the market as a new operator in 2023 and is now becoming a major Ro-Pax operator on the Algeciras-Tanger Med route.
