Baleària to Name Third Natural Gas 'Fast Ferry' After Tenerife Writer Mercedes Pinto

Baleària will name its third natural gas-powered fast ferry after Mercedes Pinto, honouring the prominent 20th-century writer and poet from Tenerife. The new vessel is in the advanced stages of construction at Astilleros Armon de Gijón, with its launch scheduled for September.

"Naming this innovative catamaran Mercedes Pinto is a way to honour a woman ahead of her time, whose vocation marked an era in the advancement of social rights through literature and poetry, among other fields. The legacy of Mercedes Pinto reflects Baleària's values and our commitment to the Canary Islands and their socio-cultural heritage," highlighted the company's president, Adolfo Utor.

The Mercedes Pinto fast ferry will join the series of high-speed ships powered by natural gas by the company: the Eleanor Roosevelt (2021) and the Margarita Salas (2023), maintaining similar features to its siblings: 123 metres in length, 28 metres in beam, and a capacity to carry 1,200 passengers and 425 vehicles. Additionally, the Mercedes Pinto will incorporate improvements in comfort and onboard services applied in the Margarita Salas, with a second deck featuring a bow lounge and an aft terrace with an outdoor bar.

Born in San Cristóbal de la Laguna (Tenerife) in 1883, Mercedes Pinto developed a celebrated career as a writer, poet, playwright, lecturer, and cultural figure in the Hispanic-American sphere. Pinto is internationally recognised as a pioneering woman in advocating progressive ideals, social justice, and civil rights, notably her involvement in the call for modernising divorce laws.

Throughout her life, the writer from La Laguna cultivated various literary genres, from narrative to essay, and her thoughts projected both in Spain and Latin America, where she spent much of her life and dedicated a significant part of her intellectual and literary activity.

Her legacy encompasses not only a valuable literary production but also an example of international vocation and commitment to Spanish-language culture. Today, she is considered a significant figure within 20th-century Hispanic thought and a representative author of the intellectual heritage of the Canary Islands with universal projection.

The Mercedes Pinto fast ferry will be the twelfth Baleària vessel with dual natural gas engines, a versatile technology the company has invested in for nearly a decade, also prepared to consume 100% biomethane and green hydrogen blends of up to 25%, renewable gases neutral in CO2 emissions considered the energies of the future.