Havana/He Mexican catamaran V2V Employersthat since this week covers the route from Bebabanó to Nueva Gerona, arrived on the island under a temporary contract. According to a promotional video shared by the Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, the Ferry He is leased, “with a purchase option.”
The treatment, Roberto Ricardo Marrero, director of the Port Maritime Group (Gemar) explains in the audiovisual, “is a specific result of the transport fair.” However, the company owns the owner of the V2V –Which is named for the first route he made in Canada between Vancouver and Victoria–, Naviyuc, a “100% Mexican” private capital firm based on Mérida, Yucatán, which two years ago bought the Ferry To a Canadian company. The cost of renting the boat is also omitted.
“We were looking for the best variants of what would be the most appropriate boat and finally it was approved that this was the vessel that replaced in this first stage to the Ferry repair [Perseverancia] –He leaves service next Sunday – and that I could then stay with us already permanently in the traffic of Nueva Gerona to Batabanó, ”added Ricardo Marrero, implying that the Ministry values buying the catamaran.
The state press, always short of good news, has also described with enthusiasm the “comfort” of the Mexican catamaran: good speed, individual tables, USB ports to load cell phones, large corridors and 240 seats that “are not completely comfortable” but that can transport a considerable amount of passengers.
The state press, always short of good news, has also described with enthusiasm the “comfort” of the Mexican catamaran
A passenger interviewed by the Cuban News Agency (ACN) also celebrated “the amplitude of the cafeteria and health services, designed for simultaneous use by two people. In relation to air conditioning, he said he still requires adjustments and commented that, as a sailor explained, covering the windows could help mitigate the effect of the sun on the crystals and improve the temperature on board.”
The passage, he reported We will overcomewill have a price of 200 pesos, an amount that few can frequently disburse, and the snacks and foods that are sold on board will be in charge of private companies, a modality that has also been implemented in rail services.
The crew of V2V It was trained by “Mexican specialists,” said the media, “who explained the operation of the ship and the role of the hydromozas, responsible for watching for the discipline during the trip.”
Finally, Ricardo Marrero explained that the catamaran will also make a second route twice a week of Nueva Gerona to Cayo Largo del Sur, to transport “tourist workers who have been able to have this service for a long time”.
It is not the first time that Naviyuc closes businesses with Cuba. The company has maintenance and repair contracts since 1999 with the Asticultar shipyard, from Havana
It is not the first time that Naviyuc closes businesses with Cuba. The company has maintenance contracts and repairs since 1999 with the Asticultar Shipyard, of Havana and, in October 2022, announced the development on the island “of the first multimodal port port, passengers and cruises in the province of Pinar del Río, in the Gulf of Guanahacabibes, the point closest to Mexico”, in collaboration with Maritime Coral SA, a Cuban commercial company.
The Mexican has already rented the V2V To other governments. Months after acquiring it, in October 2023, he signed a contract with the administration of the Caribbean island of Montserrat to provide a passenger ferry service between Montserrat and old from November of that year.
The boat, built in 1995 and carries the Belize flag, was designed to operate as a high -end services ship. Its history began in 2017, when a premium cruise service was launched in British Columbia, Canada. He connected the city of Vancouver, in the Pacific Ocean, with Victoria, the provincial capital. However, his adventure was not so successful. The company that operated it announced in 2020-before the Covid-19 Pandemia-that would close operations and the catamaran “remained virtually abandoned for almost three years”, until the sale to Naviyuc.
