Transcoma stuck in Las Palmas port: Calzada puts off Hamilton deal for Laskaridis
In an unexpected twist that reshapes the internal geopolitics of the Port Authority of Las Palmas, its president, Beatriz Calzada, decided this Thursday to remove at the last minute from the agenda of the Board of Directors the key file that would have sealed the sale of the Hamilton and Compañía naval repair business (a subsidiary of the Catalan group Transcoma) to Astilleros Canarios, owned by the Greek group Laskaridis.
The transaction, processed as the transfer of a public-domain concession of more than 8,000 square metres in the highly sought-after Dique Reina Sofía, has been frozen on a precautionary basis following the appearance of a rival operator interested in challenging that same strategic position.
The president chose to safeguard legal certainty before giving the green light to a move that would restructure the weight of the heavy industry at the quay. The agreement’s suspension opens a period of uncertainty over the definitive fate of Functional Area 6. The stoppage forces Hamilton and Laskadiris to reconsider the timelines of their commercial transaction, while the Port Authority assesses the strength of the competition claims to determine whether the space should be tendered openly or whether the direct transmission file complies with the current law.
The outcome of this dispute will set the roadmap for naval repair in Las Palmas over the next decade. If the Laskaridis Group overcomes the competition objections and formalises control of Hamilton’s land, it will entrench an unprecedented operating hegemony within the Gran Canaria port area. By contrast, if the president’s freeze opens the door to a redistribution of the concession or to a third party’s entry, the power map at Reina Sofía will undergo a historic rebalancing that will redefine prices and the range of services offered to the international fleet using the Atlantic corridor.
Item 3.1 of the board meeting notice included formal approval of the transfer of the title originally granted in February 2019. The concession authorises the operation of a 8,076-square-metre area for naval repairs and a specialised multi-purpose terminal for non-food solid bulk materials—discharging heavy materials such as barite, bentonite and cement—as well as minor goods, with the express exclusion of container traffic. The manoeuvre was designed to close the operational integration of Hamilton’s adjacent facilities within Astican’s perimeter, consolidating near-total control over support services for offshore industry and naval repair in the quay’s functional area.
The battle over control of the Dique Reina Sofía
The removal of the matter from the institutional debate reflects growing tensions over the distribution of port land in the Gran Canaria enclave. The presidential move is not mere administrative formalism, but the result of allegations submitted by another sector player with a decisive weight in the island market.
The Dique Reina Sofía has become the most coveted land in the port logistics of Las Palmas. The concentration of concession assets in the hands of an operator with a multi-dominant market share has raised alarms in the sector. Critics argue there is a danger that a de facto dominant position could be established in auxiliary services for the repair and handling of industrial bulk goods. With the point withdrawn, the Port Authority of Las Palmas gains room to reassess the competition conditions of the file and avoid potential contentious-administrative appeals that could hinder the management of public domain.
Impact on Transcoma’s restructuring
For Transcoma—the parent of the historic shipping agent Hamilton and Compañía—the freezing of the sale represents a temporary setback in its strategy for rotating assets and simplifying its terminal business in the archipelago. The company was seeking to monetise a concession obtained seven years ago to redirect its capital toward other operating lines on the peninsula and within Mediterranean facilities, banking on a clean process before the board of the Gran Canaria institution.
The entry Transcoma, atrapada en el puerto de Las Palmas: Calzada aplaza la compra del negocio de Hamilton por Laskaridis was first published on canarymaritime.com.
