The RAE defines the verb jibarizar
The RAE defines the verb jibarizar as “to reduce the size, amount or importance of something.” That is what is happening to Hamilton and its owner, Transcoma. It is being jibarized so that it can pay the group’s debts.
The sale of the offshore naval repair base of the Reina Sofía—which was dedicated to offshore business—is urgent because, in the Commercial Court No. 12 of Barcelona, it is expected by September 2026 to provide liquidity and prevent the subsidiary from contaminating the rest of the structure, which was bought for one euro in 2024. The question is: should a whole group be bought for one euro when, in Las Palmas, there is a subsidiary that is declared to bill more than 50 million euros and a certain number of consolidated benefits?
Exposing the weak points
The recent track record of Hamilton and Cía in the Port of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife shows a radical turnaround driven by the financial urgencies of its parent company in Catalonia. After leading the booking of oil platforms and cruises and announcing ambitious expansion plans in the Atlantic, this week has continued to fit the theory of international expansion—until taxi drivers, at least in Las Palmas, do not front the company for cruise passengers it handles.
Instead, the company has become trapped by Transcoma Grupo Empresarial’s corporate moves. The application to homologate the debt restructuring plan before Commercial Court No. 12 in Barcelona, submitted by a consortium controlled by Alfonso Cordero, has exposed the cash shortfall of the Canary Islands subsidiary.
The growth strategy that promised a rollout without precedent
The group’s strategy in the islands had promised an unprecedented rollout. In 2020, Transcoma set up Hamilton’s entry into Gesport Terminal Marítima’s capital by buying 20% of the shares—shares now held 100% by Romeu—while launching works for a new terminal at the Reina Sofía, with a planned investment of 3 million euros in an alliance with Tecnavin, or by creating a company with Hiperdino for the provisioning business. The goal was to unify services for the offshore industry and consolidate logistical hegemony within the Gran Canaria port area through infrastructure with warehouses and areas for ship repair afloat.
All of that, by 2026, is smoke: the offshore terminal shifts into the orbit of Laskadiris, something everyone at the Port of Las Palmas already knew back in 2018.
The cash shortfall and supplier pressure
The growth scenario began to crack as problems in the Barcelona business affected cash flow. Despite Hamilton maintaining a high level of operating income—reaching, according to what it said, 60 million euros in revenue in 2024 and a net profit of 4.5 million—cash was drained by the transfer of funds to the Catalan parent. This dynamic led to a wave of non-payments to local suppliers in the La Luz quay, affecting repair workshops, transport services, hotels and the Boluda Group, which sought from the Port Authority the suspension of tug services over unpaid invoices, alleging that it is not receiving tug service.
Fusion and integration moves approved in Barcelona—aimed at simplifying the corporate structure, including the absorption of Transcoma Shipping and Transcoma Global Logistics—failed to prevent the group’s imminent insolvency in the commercial-penal sphere. The crisis of the parent consortium ultimately pulled the island subsidiary into a position of operational vulnerability, contradicting the international expansion projections the group had put forward years earlier.
Ceding industrial land as an escape route
The urgent need for liquidity to meet Transcoma’s judicial and financial commitments has forced Hamilton to dismantle the original plans on the island. The 8,076-square-metre plot at the Reina Sofía dock—conceived at the time as the bastion for bulk handling and naval repair business—is now in the process of being transferred to the Laskadiris Group (Astican). The concession-based cession operation, conditional on successfully completing the free-competition procedures in the Port of Las Palmas, represents the effective withdrawal of the shipping agent company’s direct management of the nautical land—turning it into an economic oxygen source for the corporate structure in liquidation of its parent. Laskadiris is not in a rush to buy; Transcoma has much to sell.
The story “Hamilton’s U-turns in the Canary Islands: from buying 20% of Gestport to Laskadiris’ white-label in Las Palmas” was first published on canarymaritime.com.
