Major Spanish ferry operator, Baleària’s 2024 turnover reached €691 mill, while EBITDA was €130 mill, the company reported.
Baleària exceeded 5.6 mill passengers (up by 8%), while 550,000 trucks were transported (a rise of 3%).
The company invested more than €300 mill last year to renew its fleet, opening new routes connecting Algeria and was awarded the first green corridor operation between Tarifa and Tangier Ville.
Baleària also improved its carbon footprint, with minus 3.3% of C02 emissions per mile sailed and minus 9.5% of emissions per passenger.
The increase in EBITDA of 11% on the previous fiscal year, was driven by the 6% increase in turnover.
“These figures show the solidity and solvency of our business model,” said Baleària President, Adolfo Utor, adding that the capital of trust accumulated by the company was a distinguishing feature.
The 2024 result was €25 mill (a 36% drop year-on-year), which due to the “increase in amortisations and financial expenses that occur when taking on more debt, the evolution of interest rates and the high cost of environmental regulations,” Utor said.
In a context of growth and expansion, Utor stressed that “investments have tripled, to exceed €300 mill, mainly in new ships and in improving the efficiency of the fleet.”
Baleària also announced the appointment of Guillermo Utor as the new Director and Vice President of the shipping company.
Last year, the company operated 28 routes in five countries, utilising a large fleet of around 40 ships, most of which were company owned.
Passenger carriage represented 61% of the turnover and freight transport 35%; while, in turnover by area, national routes continued to represent 75%.
In 2024, Baleària transported 5.6 mill passengers and 1.5 mill vehicles, a growth rate of 8% and 10%, respectively. Almost half of the customers travelled on routes to and from mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands.
“We are the only shipping company that offers a comprehensive service to the entire archipelago, with direct routes throughout the year,” Utor claimed.
Ceuta connections were consolidated as the company’s second destination thanks to a high volume of passengers, while the Melilla/Málaga route (of which Baleària was awarded the public interest line) registered the greatest growth in passenger traffic.
Morocco, with 18% of passengers, led the international routes, which represented 22% of the company’s total traffic.
“A country that will be strengthened with the future Tarifa/Tangier Ville line, where we will launch the first green corridor between Europe and Africa,” Utor explained.
Similarly, the opening of three new routes with Algeria was highlighted, “a strategic market, which obtained very good results this summer,” he said.
Freight traffic amounted to 7.6 mill linear m of cargo – a 3% growth. Utor said that Baleària “plays a crucial role in ensuring the transport of goods, thanks to its reliability, punctuality and adaptation to the logistical demands of customers.”
Around 60% of the cargo was shipped on Balearic Islands routes, which “in a very competitive context has maintained figures similar to the previous year,” Utor said. Morocco is increasingly important for Baleària’s freight traffic, accounting for 30% of the total, and is established “as a clear axis of development for the future.”
As for the carbon footprint reduction, he said: “We have sailed 1.8 mill miles, which represents an increase of 1.4%. And yet, we have reached a very important milestone: for the first time we have reduced total CO2 emissions, not taking into account the year in which the pandemic forced us to drastically reduce activity,”
The shipping company emitted 15,000 fewer tonnes of CO2 (2% less) and has reduced emissions per mile sailed by 3.3% and emissions per passenger by 9.5%.
“The reduction of our carbon footprint has been possible thanks to more efficient ship operations and a 184% increase in the use of natural gas.” Utor pointed out, adding that Baleària was continuously working on the use of alternative energies. “(This week) we carried out a bio-LNG supply test on our two newest ships, the fast ferry ‘Margarita Salas’ and the ferry ‘Rusadir’, a fuel that we plan to increase this year.”
He also highlighted Baleària’s €1,000 mill investment in a sustainable fleet.
This year, Baleària and Spanish renewable energy supplier, Axpo Iberia, completed the first bioLNG bunkering operations at the two Enagás terminals in Huelva and Barcelona.
On 3rd March, 2025, the Huelva terminal supplied bioLNG to the Port of Málaga, where Baleària operates the Málaga to Melilla route with the ’Rusadir’, an electric and dual gas-powered ropax that joined the company in late 2023.
On 6th March, bioLNG was supplied from the Barcelona terminal to the 2024-built LNG dual-fuel fast ferry ‘Margarita Salas’, which connects Barcelona with Mallorca and Menorca.
Bunkering the ships directly with bioLNG was possible thanks to the adaptation of the terminals to process the fuel, which is obtained from biomethane injected into the gas network and processed in liquid form.
The biomethane supplied and certified by Axpo comes from the treatment of agricultural waste at the Noguera Renovables plant (Lleida), the first in Spain to produce biomethane from cattle manure, and from the use of organic waste at the Valdemingómez Technology Park (Madrid).
