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Compañía Trasmediterránea (Shipping company, Spain)

Trasme

Presentation of Trasme
House flag of Trasmediterránea, 1991-2005
House flag of Trasmediterránea, 1916-1991

See also:

Presentation of Trasme

Compañía Trasmediterránea, colloquially known as Trasmed, was established on 25 November 1916 as the merger of Compañía Valenciana de Vapores Correos de Africa (Valencia, 18 ships), Ferrer Peset Hermanos (Valencia, 15 ships), Línea de Vapores Tintoré (Barcelona, 7 ships), and Sociedad Navegación e Industria (Barcelona, 5 ships). In 1917, Trasmed acquired Compañía Anónima de Vapores Vinuesa (Seville) and Compañía Marítima de Barcelona; the next year, it acquired another three companies in the Balearic Islands: La Marítima, Compañía Mahonesa de Vapores and Isleña Marítima Compañía Mallorquina de Vapores. Trasmed was granted the official postal service between continental Spain, the islands and the colonies.

After the proclamation of the Republic in 1931, the ships named for members of the royal family and politicians were renamed after towns:
Reina Victoria to Ciudad de Melilla;
Príncipe Alfonso to Ciudad de Palma;
; Infante Don Jaimeto Ciudad de Barcelona;
Infante Don Juan to Ciudad de Alicante;
Infante Don Gonzalo to Ciudad de Valencia;
Infanta Beatriz to Ciudad de Sevilla;
Infanta Cristina to Ciudad de Cádiz;
General Berenguer to Ciudad de Mahón;
General Jordana to Ciudad de Málaga;
Miguel Primo de Rivera to Ciudad de Algeciras;
General Sanjurjo to Ciudad de Ceuta.
In 1936, the company's headquarters were transferred to Cádiz. During the Civil War, the fleet, split between the two camps, was almost completely lost.
Reconstituted after the war, the company's fleet was modernized in the 1970s. In October 1975, five Trasmed ships completed 23 voyages to evacuate civilian and military personal from Spanish Sahara.

The renewed state contract signed on 1 January 1978 for a duration of 20 years suppressed the former lines from continental Spain to Fernando Po and from the Canary Islands to the former colonial possessions in Africa. The state acquired most of the company's shares, for the sake of continuity of the Service of Maritime Communications of National Interest. In the 1980s, Trasmed launched the jet-foil ship Princessa Voladora, which linked Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife in only 80 minutes. Another two similar ships were subsequently launched, Princessa Guayarmina and Princessa Guacimara. An hydro-foil ship was launched in 1988 on the Alicante-Ibiza line.
On 26 January 1998, a new contract granted to Trasmed the service of the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Ceuta an Melilla from the ports of continental Spain. Brand new maritime stations were established in Barcelona (1997) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1998).
After 25 years of state management, the process of privatization of Trasmed was initiated on 11 January 2002. Ownership of the company was awarded on 11 January 2002 to a consortium led by Acciona Logística and composed of Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo, Compañía de Remolcadores Ibaizábal, Agrupación Hotelera Dóliga, Suministros Ibiza, and Naviera Armas. The company was expected to become the European leader in ferry transportation.
[Mar y Barcos; El Almanaque]
In October 2017, Naviera Armas acquired 92.71% of the share of Trasmed from Acciona, for 260.4 million euros. At the time, the company operated 32 lines from its five maritime stations, connecting continental Spain to the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, and North Africa. In 2016, Trasmed transported 576,000 vehicles and 5.8 million linear meters cargo. Acciona sold the company to concentrate its activity on its original business, energy.
[Diario de Avisos, 26 October 2017]

A comprehensive list of the ships operated by Trasmed, with detailed history, technical documents, photos, collectibles... is found on the collaborative website La Compañía Trasmediterránea a través de sus buques, maintained by Laureano García.

Ivan Sache, 27 July 2022

House flag of Trasmediterránea, 1991-2005

Original house flag of Trasmed, two versions - Images by Ivan Sache, 27 July 2022

The original house flag of Trasmed (photo, photo, photo, photo) was triangular, red, with a white border all around and a white disc at the hoist charged with the overlapping red letters "C" and "T". The flag already appeared as part of the company's logoin the document by which the company was established, dated 25 November 1916. The flag was also used in a rectangular shape (photo).

House flag of Trasmed, 1991-2005 - Image by António Martins, 20 November 2005

From 1991 to 2005, Trasmed used a white pennant (photo) with the blue-white-green "T" logo, which was adopted in 1991, as a consequence of the change of corporate image. The colors of the new logo were defined as Pantone 280 and 375 (Trasmediterránea. Hacia el Nuevo Milenio). The house flag was usually displayed from the jackstaff on the company's ships travelling across the Strait of Gibraltar from Algeciras to Ceuta.

Corporate flag of Trasmed, two versions - Images by José Manuel Erbez & Ivan Sache, 27 July 2022

The corporate flag used during the same period was horizontally divided blue-white-green, the white stripe wuder, with the company's logo and name in the center (photo, photo).

House flag of Acciona Trasmediterránea - Image by Ivan Sache, 27 July 2022

The previous house flag was dropped in 2005 when the corporate group Acciona decided to unify the corporate image of all its subsidiaries, Trasmediterránea included. The company then used a white triangular flag charged with the corporate emblem of Acciona Trasmediterránea (photo, photo).

Jorge Candeias, Eduardo Martín, Santiago Dotor, Jan Mertens & Ivan Sache, 27 July 2022