History
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.
The route between Gomera and Tenerife initially operated three times a day in each direction and took 80 minutes, and was capable of handling 400 passengers and around 60 cars. Within six months of the route opening 100,000 people had used the crossing, a figure that far exceeded expectations. As a gesture of goodwill a free coach was provided from Los Cristianos in the South of Tenerife to the capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Five years after the launch of the service a new larger and faster ferry was added, the Bonanza. The ship had previously been served with the company in Northern Europe, but was transferred to the Gomera route. Then again in 1989 still trading as Ferry Gomera the company introduced a route from Los Cristianos to San Sebastian de La Gomera using a ferry named the SES Sant’ Agata (later the Gomera Express) which was promoted as "fast and comfortable". The crossing took only 35 minutes. Also in 1989 a route was established between Playa Blanca, Lanzarote and Corralejo, Fuerteventura which was operated by the ferry Betancuria.
By 1990 Ferry Gomera had made a grand total of 29,095 ferry crossings and travelled 1,163,800 kilometres (625,542 miles or 29 trips around the world). The total number of vehicles carried was nearly 722,200,00. The route had also carried nearly 900 patients as well as 20 additional critical emergency crossings. In 1994 Fred. Olsen signed a deal with the Canarian Postal Service to offer an on-board post office on board the Benchijigua Express. A fourth daily service was also added. The year 2000 saw the entry of the Benchijigua Express on the Gomera route. In 2005, a brand new trimaran, also named Benchijigua Express entered service on the Tenerife to La Gomera and Tenerife to La Palma route. The old Benchijigua Express was renamed Bentago Express and placed on the Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Gran Canaria route.
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