Baja Ferries (also known as: bajaferries S.A de C.V) is a Mexican

shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

dedicated to ferry transportation across the Sea of Cortes. Its headquarters are located in

La Paz, Baja California Sur La Paz (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Baja California Sur, with a 2020 census population of 250,141 inhabitants, making it the most populous city in the state. La Paz City is located in La ...

. The company was founded in 2003 by Mariano Ruano Boza to transport

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

s between the Mexican States of

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

and

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...

. The company included the subsidiary dedicated to

trucking Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations ...

transportation company Transportadora GEOS.

History

The origins of ''Baja Ferries'' date back to 1991 when the French shipowner Daniel Berrebi obtained

import An importer is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. Import is part of the International Trade which involves buying and receivin ...

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

contracts for Mexico from

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

. In 1994 following the entry into force of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Berrebi opened a first freight line between Mexico and the US initially then on the Western Mexican Coast from 1996. In 2001 the shipowner began its passenger transport activities by commissioning a high-speed ship between

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

and Topolobampo,

. In 2003, Berrebi chartered a mixed vessel with a rolling capacity of 2,100 linear meters from the Italian

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

Visentini. Becoming the California Star, it inaugurates the activities of the company ''Baja Ferries'', created for the occasion. The following year a second ship joined the fleet, the car ferry ''Coromuel'', renamed Sinaloa Star. In 2007, ''Baja Ferries'' bought the car ferry Victory from the Italian company

Grandi Navi Veloci Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) is an Italian shipping company, based in Genoa, that operates ferry, ferries between mainland Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, France, Spain, Albania, Morocco and Tunisia. It was established by Aldo Grimaldi in 1992. History ...

and put it into service under the name ''Chihuahua Star'', replacing the ''Sinaloa Star'', which was leaving the fleet. In 2010, a new mixed vessel was integrated into the fleet, the

Monte Cinto Monte Cinto () is the highest mountain on the island of Corsica, a region of France. Geography The elevation of the mountain is and so is its prominence, making it one of the most prominent peaks in Europe. It is the highest peak of the Mo ...

, bought from SNCM, which took the name of Mazatlan Star. His arrival allows the transfer in 2011 of the ''Chihuahua Star'' within the company America Cruise Ferries, another company owned by Daniel Berrebi operating lines in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

between

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. A new Ro-Ro carrier was put into service in 2013, the ex- Strada Corsa, bought in Italy after the bankruptcy of its owner and put into service under the name La Paz Star. In November 2014, the company embarked on the race to take over SNCM, placed in receivership by the Commercial Court of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. Based on a plan to reduce the company's scope of activity to

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

lines alone, subsidized under the public service delegation, and the development of lines with the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

, with in particular the opening of a line to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, its offer will be modified several times as the deadline is pushed back. Baja Ferries will in particular try to form a common front with the STEF Group before the latter decides to withdraw. Its offer will finally be discarded in favor of that of the Corsican transporter Rocca. It is for this reason that, from January 2016, ''Baja Ferries'' joined the consortium of Corsican companies Corsica Maritima, also a candidate for the takeover of ''SNCM'', and participated in the launch of the company Corsica Linea by chartering the ro-ro ship to it. Stena Carrier, intended to compete with the new company succeeding ''SNCM'' between

and

. However, the two companies merging in April 2016, ''Baja Ferries'' will withdraw from the project. The Stena Carrier will join the company's fleet in 2018 under the name of México Star, as will another chartered ro-ro to serve

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

. which would eventually join Baja Ferries in 2016 as Cabo Star before being chartered overseas. That same year, 2016 his ship, the former Chihuahua Star, chartered by ACF under the name Caribbean Fantasy, suffered a fire in the

in August. The extent of the damage led to her being sold for scrap the following year. This vessel was then replaced within the fleet by the Baja Star, a 170-metre car ferry purchased from the Chinese company ''Rizhao Ferries''. First placed on the charter market, she joined the lines of Baja Ferries at the end of 2019 after the sale of the California Star.

Fleet

Old Fleet

Current Fleet

{, class="wikitable" , + ! rowspan="2" , Ship ! rowspan="2" , Flag ! rowspan="2" , Type ! rowspan="2" , In service ! rowspan="2" , Entry with fleet ! rowspan="2" ,

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a cal ...

! rowspan="2" , Length ! rowspan="2" , Width ! colspan="3" class="unsortable" , Capacity ! rowspan="2" , Knots ! rowspan="2" , Status ! rowspan="2" , Image , - !Passengers !Vehicles !Trailers , - , align="Center" , '' Baja Star'' , align="Center" , Flag_of_Mexico

, align="Center" , Fast Ferry , align="Center" , 1992 , align="Center" , 2016 , align="Center" , UMS , align="Center" , 170 m , align="Center" , 25 m , align="Center" , 705 , align="Center" , 90 , align="Center" , 100 , align="Center" , 26 knots , align="Center" , In service , align="Center" , Baja Star La Paz

, - , align="Center" , ''México Star'' , align="Center" , Flag_of_Mexico

, align="Center" , Ro-Ro , align="Center" , 2004 , align="Center" , 2018 , align="Center" , UMS , align="Center" , 182.60 m , align="Center" , 25.50 m , align="Center" , 12 , align="Center" , – , align="Center" , 2775 m , align="Center" , 22 knots , align="Center" , In service , aling="Center" , , - , align="Center" , ''Cabo Star'' , align="Center" , Flag_of_Panama

, align="Center" , Ro-Ro , align="Center" , 1988 , align="Center" , 2016 , align="Center" , UMS , align="Center" , 157.51 m , align="Center" , 25.32 m , align="Center" , 12 , align="Center" , – , align="Center" , 2100 , align="Center" , 20,5 knots , align="Center" , , align="Center" , , - , align="Center" , '' Balandra Star'' , align="Center" , Flag_of_Panama

, align="Center" , Ro-Ro , align="Center" , 1990 , align="Center" , 2016 , align="Center" , {{formatnum:5925 UMS , align="Center" , 91,50 m , align="Center" , ¿? m , align="Center" , , align="Center" , – , align="Center" , , align="Center" , , align="Center" , , aling="Center" , , -

References

Companies of Mexico Transportation in Mexico 2003 establishments in Mexico Ferries of Mexico Privatized companies in Mexico