On February 27, 2025, the board of directors of Norwegian holding company Bonheur ASA (BON:NO) signed its official environmental policy in Oslo. The document commits the group to reducing biodiversity loss, addressing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and reporting its impacts under the standards of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). The policy also formally endorses the objectives of the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan, identifying atmospheric emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM) as material impacts. The parent company explicitly acknowledges that these particles are harmful to the environment, wildlife and populated areas, requiring its ship-owning subsidiaries to reduce such pollutants in accordance with local and international regulations. In the waters of the Canary Islands, operating subsidiary Fred. Olsen Express is dealing with a very different operational reality.
The recent fleet rotation caused by mandatory technical layovers has tested the consistency between the company’s ESG messaging and day-to-day operations on inter-island routes.
The rotation of the veteran vessels
The shipping company’s dry-docking plan forced the Bañaderos Express trimaran into the shipyard at the Grupo Laskaridis facilities in Las Palmas. To cover its absence on the route between Agaete and Tenerife, the company redeployed the Bencomo Express catamaran, which had just completed a brief layover at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The vacancy on the line linking Los Cristianos, San Sebastián de La Gomera and Santa Cruz de La Palma was filled by the Barlovento Express catamaran.
The Barlovento Express has 23 years of maritime service to its name. Built under the designation Incat 058 and launched in 2001, the vessel did not enter active service until June 2003, when it operated as the Milenium Dos for Trasmediterránea. After being involved in a serious collision with the merchant vessel New Glory in the Strait of Gibraltar in 2012 and operating as Ciudad de Ceuta, the ship was acquired by Bonheur ASA in October 2024 from Italy’s Liberty Lines, briefly renamed Vittorio M and chartered on a long-term basis to Fred. Olsen Express after passing through shipyards in Gran Canaria.
The accounting challenge of the Ruston engines
With 6,554 tonnes of gross tonnage and a length overall of 97.22 metres, the catamaran is equipped with four Ruston 20RK270 engines capable of producing 28,320 kW to power four waterjets at 34 knots. The propulsion system has a recurring history of mechanical failures and propulsion incidents that have required successive interventions in an effort to stabilise its performance.
Historically poor maintenance and accumulated wear have in practice resulted in dense black smoke emissions during navigation, a phenomenon observed both on the Barlovento Express and on the Bencomo Express itself during the crossing between La Palma and Los Cristianos. The scene sends into the atmosphere the same suspended particles and gases — NOx, SOx and PM — that the parent company’s governance code urges subsidiaries to prevent in order to avoid harming local communities.
The paradox of the TNFD and Zero Pollution standards
Bonheur ASA’s environmental protocol (BON.OL) stipulates that subsidiaries must actively prevent and mitigate the negative impact of air pollution on inhabited areas and infrastructure where they operate. The internal standard requires environmental impact assessments to be carried out to mitigate consequences for local ecosystems and to restrict emissions above the community thresholds established under European regulations.
The prolonged use of high-speed vessels with conventional, high-consumption propulsion systems and visible emissions exposes the gap between the board’s guidelines in Oslo and the management of mature assets on the Canary Islands corridor. While European regulation and voluntary reporting frameworks put pressure on listed parent companies, island operations depend on the availability of tonnage in the charter market to maintain public transport frequencies.
The article ESG Risk at Bonheur ASA: The Gap Between Its Environmental Policy in Oslo and Fred Olsen’s Emissions in the Canary Islands was first published on canarymaritime.com.
