Bonheur presses on in the Canaries before Baleària finalizes its push for the Port of Agaete’s role in its connection with Tenerife
Bonheur is continuing to move forward in the islands ahead of Baleària formalizing efforts to accelerate pressure to take part in the Port of Agaete in its link with Tenerife. The Norwegian inter-island transport giant in the Canaries is displaying financial muscle with an increase in its business volume, while consolidating a dense web of state and regional subsidies that underpin its results balance. The company never wants to talk about money, and its annual accounts are not made public despite the obligation that comes with receiving public funds. It only discloses non-financial data.
Results under scrutiny
The latest public figures indicate that the shipping company owned by the owners of Bonheur has closed its most recent fiscal year with €267 million in turnover. The figure represents a 5% increase compared with the previous year. Purely maritime business remains the undisputed engine of the group, contributing €249 million to total income. The group’s liquidity is reflected in a cash flow of around €40 million.
The company’s net profits suffered a slight contraction, falling to €18 million from €21 million in the prior fiscal year. The company’s management opted to allocate most of these benefits to strengthening its reserves. The dividend payout to shareholders was set at €5.5 million, exactly matching the amount distributed in the previous year. After 52 years of commercial operations in the archipelago, the group manages assets valued at €423 million, has €217 million in equity resources, and employs 1,350 workers.
The weight of public money
The company’s internal accounting reveals a strong link to funding from public administrations. Institutional capital injections range from large-scale subsidies aimed at offsetting operating costs of transport to items intended for the acquisition of smaller medical equipment.
In recent years, the main financial contribution originating from regional coffers corresponds to the refund of port fees. The Department of Public Works, Housing and Mobility of the Government of the Canary Islands authorized, on December 23, 2022, in the period of the PSOE, a payment of €9,704,583.70. Three days earlier, on December 20, 2022, the same government department processed a supplementary payment of €111,141.27. The total amount for this category of Canary tax refund added up to €9,815,724.97.
The umbrella of the REF
The tax incentives tied to the Canary tax régime act as another key mechanism in Fred Olsen’s income structure. The State Tax Administration Agency (Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria) validated on July 15, 2025 a tax advantage of €7,255,537.52 linked to operating aid under the Economic and Fiscal Régime (REF) for 2024. The tax authority had already approved on December 31, 2022 another tax exemption of €916,831.18 attributable to the 2022 economic year. The cumulative tax savings achieved through this regulatory route reaches €8,172,368.70.
Incentives and state cabotage
The Directorate-General for European Funds transferred €5,768,794.92 to the company on December 27, 2023. The subsidy was carried out through the state program for Regional Incentives, designed to correct economic imbalances between territories. At the same time, the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility keeps channels for direct subsidies open for the operation of maritime lines declared of public interest.
Payments by the Government for cabotage routes occur consistently. The central government recorded disbursements of €489,851.21 on November 24, 2023, €299,991.43 on November 22, 2023, and €265,490.77 on April 10, 2024. A sequence of smaller settlements processed between 2023 and 2025 raises the total cost of these passenger and cargo transport aids to €3,208,730.96.
Digitalisation and nautical succession
The chapter on public investment extends to energy transition, digitalisation, and sectoral employment. On the technological front, the Red.es organization allocated the company €30,000 on June 15, 2026 under the call for Kit Espacios de Datos within the state recovery plan. The staff training area for nautical personnel received from the Directorate-General of Merchant Marine €78,967.31 on December 9, 2025, and €56,848.54 on December 12, 2023, to fund the embarkation of trainees. The total for this operational block amounts to €260,898.62.
Help even for first-aid kits
The Social Institute of the Merchant Navy (Instituto Social de la Marina) provides the final tranche of funding through subsidies of smaller amounts. Official resolutions from this state body dated December 3, 2025, October 28, 2024, and September 8, 2023 include multiple transfers to cover the mandatory medical first-aid kits on board ships. The allocations range from minimum amounts of €9.06 to a maximum cap per vessel of €1,014.33. The money accumulated by the shipping company for maintaining this safety medical equipment totals €4,908.57.
The entryBonheur’s financial “guts” in the Canary Islands: €267 million and heavy reliance on public aid was first published on encanarymaritime.com.
