Buquebus
 | |
 Buquebus terminal in Buenos Aires, 2011 | |
| Headquarters | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
|---|---|
Area served | River Plate |
| Services | Passenger transportation |
| Website | www.buquebus.com |
Los Cipreses S.A., doing business as Buquebus, is a Uruguayan company[1] that operates ferry services on the River Plate, from Buenos Aires to Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento with duty-free shopping.[2] The company operates a number of coach services to various destinations in conjunction with the ferries.
History
[edit]The company started in 1979.[3] Some of its first ferries were the Eladia Isabel[4][5] and Flecha De Buenos Aires between Buenos Aires and Colonia del Sacramento in 1986. In 1998, the company was acquired by Los Cipreses.[6]
Buquebus also operated in Spain, making journeys in the Strait of Gibraltar (between Algeciras and Ceuta), and in the Mediterranean between Mallorca and the Peninsula. It used the catamarans Avemar, Avemar Dos, Catalonia, Ronda Marina, Thomas Edison and Patricia Oliva as well as the monohull Albayzin. On September 19, 2007 this operation was acquired (in 55%) by the shipping company Baleària.
Buquebus also operated the airline BQB Líneas Aéreas in South America from 2010 to 2015.
Since 2014, the company receives 66 tons of LNG per day from 7 production units at a facility in San Vicente near Buenos Aires, sufficient for two round-trips per day for the Francisco ferry on the 146-nautical-mile (270 km; 168 mi) sea route between Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The LNG is sent in LNG-powered tank trucks to the ship.[7][8]
The company competes with Colonia Express[9] for a market of 2.5 million people per year who travel across the River Plate.[3]
As of 2026[update], the company is building a $350 million 90,000 m2 (970,000 sq ft) transportation hub in Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires, with a 150-room hotel and gardens with underground parking for 850 cars.[10][11][12]
Fleet
[edit]
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Buquebus operates a fleet of three fast ferries.[13]
| Ship | Built | Entered service |
Route | Speed (knots) | Tonnage | Flag | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic III | 1993 | 1993 | Buenos Aires - Colonia, 30 nmi (56 km; 35 mi) | 38 | 4,994 GT |  Uruguay |
4×4.5 MW engine |
| Silvia Ana L | 1996 | 1996 - 2000 2007 - |
Buenos Aires - Colonia/Montevideo | 42 | 7,895 GT | Uruguay |
Monohull. 6×6 MW. 1200 pax, 220 cars. |
| Francisco | 2013 | 2013 | Buenos Aires - Montevideo, 146 nmi (270 km; 168 mi) | 58 | 7,109 GT | Uruguay |
World's fastest ferry. 2×22 MW gas turbines on LNG[14][15] |
| Under construction 2026 | |||||||
| China Zorrilla | 2025 | Under construction 2026 | Buenos Aires - Colonia, 30 nmi (56 km; 35 mi) | 25 | 13,000 GT | World's largest catamaran & aluminium ship. Fully battery electric.[16][17] |
The newest ferry, named Francisco, after Pope Francis, was completed by Incat in 2013. Capable of 107 km/h (58 knots) it was, at time of commissioning, the fastest ferry in the world.[18] It has a capacity of 1,024 passengers and crew and 150 cars.[19]
Buquebus has formerly operated a fleet of other fast ferries.[20]
| Ship | Built | Service | Route | Tonnage | Flag | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juan Patricio | 1995 | 1995 | Buenos Aires - Montevideo | 1,760 GT |  Argentina |
|
| Eladia Isabel | 1986 | 1986-2016 | Buenos Aires - Colonia | 7,799 GT | Uruguay |
Scrapped in 2025[21][22][4] |
| Albayzin | 1994 | 1994—2022 | Buenos Aires - Colonia | 3,265 GT | Uruguay |
[23] |
| Luciano Federico L | 1997 | 1997 | Buenos Aires - Colonia | 1,737 GT | Uruguay |
|
| Patricia Olivia II | 1998 | 1998 | Buenos Aires - Colonia | Uruguay |
||
| Flecha De Buenos Aires | 1986 | 1996 | Buenos Aires - Colonia | Uruguay |
||
| Thomas Edison | 1999 | 1999 | Buenos Aires - Colonia | Uruguay |
The Buquebus website also lists HSC Catalonia, which has been chartered to P&O Ferries as HSC Express for several years.
The company's coaches connect with its ferries, hence the company name ("buque"=ferry, bus=coach), providing travel to tourist destinations in the Río de la Plata region. From Montevideo, east to Piriapolis, Punta del Este, La Paloma.
From Colonia del Sacramento, west to Carmelo and Nueva Palmira wine region and river delta.
Previously, the company had bus routes to spas in Termas del Arapey and Termas del Daymán in the Salto region in northwest Uruguay. Also east to the seaside resorts of Atlántida, La Pedrera and Punta del Diablo.
See also
[edit]BQB Líneas Aéreas, former Buquebus-owned airline.
References
[edit]- ^ "Los Cipreses S.A. Company Profile". Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
- ^ Terry, Paul (30 March 2011). "Across the Rio de la Plata to Colonia, Uruguay". The Independent Tourist.
- ^ a b "Innovación que marca el rumbo: Buquebus presenta el ferry 100% eléctrico más grande del planeta" (in Spanish). La Nación. 19 November 2025.
- ^ a b Sala, Ignacio (20 March 2025). "El último viaje del Eladia Isabel, el buque emblemático del Río de la Plata: navega hacia Turquía para su desguace". Clarín (in Spanish).
named after López Mena's mother. In 1994, it was rebuilt at Tandanor, the Argentine state shipyard: its length was increased by 18 meters
- ^ "ATU Antologías - Ferry Eladia Isabel de Buquebus (Primera Parte)". 4 July 2025.
- ^ "Buquebus". TestimoniosBA (in Spanish). 3 May 2023.
- ^ "Plant supplying LNG to Buquebus ferry is inaugurated". LNG Industry. 13 August 2014.
Argentina's President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has inaugurated the plant supplying LNG to ferry company Buquebus
- ^ "Buquebus boosting production at small-scale LNG plant in Argentina". LNG Prime. 30 January 2024.
- ^ "Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento".
- ^ "Importante ampliación de la terminal de Buquebus - Real Estate y Arquitectura | Áreas Globales". areasglobales.com.ar (in Spanish). 10 November 2025.
- ^ "El ferry eléctrico más grande del mundo unirá Buenos Aires con Colonia y una imponente terminal cambiará Puerto Madero" (in Spanish). Clarín (Argentine newspaper). 31 October 2025.
construction is underway .. We started all the work a year ago, and it will take two or three more years to finish.
- ^ "Portal Buquebus + ¿Que fue de la torre de Av Córdoba 120? - Buenos Aires - Enero 2026". 15 January 2026.
Ground level
- ^ "Flota Buquebus: Barcos y Buses para Viajar entre Uruguay y Argentina". www.buquebus.com (in Spanish).
- ^ "Guinness World Records - Fastest ferry". Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Buquebus - Case". MannTek.
We wanted a very fast ferry but diesel engines could not deliver enough power. The solution came from the gas turbines which gave us the power for the high speeds we required
- ^ "Argentina and Uruguay to feature a zero-emission fast ferry crossing by early 2026". Maritime South. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "El "China Zorrilla" es un buque "único en su tipo y representa un cambio de paradigma en el transporte marítimo"". Colonia Multimedia (in Spanish). 5 September 2024.
- ^ "Guinness World Records - Fastest ferry". Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Bruce Mounster (June 18, 2013). "107km/h: now that's a fast ferry". The Mercury.
- ^ "Viaja y disfrutá en los mejores buques del país | Buquebus". Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
- ^ https://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=8869581&lang=en
- ^ https://www.visionmaritima.com.uy/74905-2/
- ^ "Albayzin venduta per la demolizione". Pianeta Navi. 13 October 2022.
External links
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