Praia, Feb. 9, 2026 (Lusa) - The 2025 operating result of CV Interilhas, Cabo Verde's maritime transport concessionaire, was "well below 2024," said administrator Fernando Braz de Oliveira in an interview with Lusa on Monday.
"The year 2024 was extraordinary, with a ship availability rate of around 98%," while 2025 saw "a very adverse environment for operations," he said.
The difficulties were caused by weather conditions and by two very serious problems, on the Kriola and the Liberdadi, the two catamarans in the four-ship fleet, one of which hit a pier, while the other ran aground, leaving it out of service for several months.
"Even so, we managed to fulfil [our public service obligations] and deliver results that are within the parameters of the contract," he said, pointing to 3,200 trips across the archipelago throughout the year.
CV Interilhas fell "short of the 500,000 passengers that is normally the target" for annual results, reaching only 435,000.
Fernando Braz de Oliveira sums up the year as "very difficult, with many technical and meteorological adversities," in what he described as a "perfect storm" that hampered all navigation in the archipelago - pointing to the sinking of the private cargo ship Nho Padre Benjamin and other accidents as examples.
Faced with various criticisms pointing to an inadequate fleet, the administrator of CV Interilhas responds that "the fleet is the one that is contracted".
"We have reports and a daily relationship with the state so that it can monitor the progress of operations," being "extremely discerning, as it should be," he described, pointing to the certifications that all ships have.
"We are scrutinised in detail" and among the four ships "there is not one that does not comply with safety and certification rules," he added, noting that the intention is to invest in the fleet.
In August, CV Interilhas announced a €19 million investment in the purchase of ships, following a "favourable arbitration decision" that recognised the State's breaches of the concession contract.
However, Cabo Verde's government has appealed, and the Supreme Court of Justice's decision is awaited.
Other objectives for 2026 include making the ship that is usually kept on standby for operations profitable, investing in maritime agency and also in logistics, through cold storage warehouses - something that Braz de Oliveira believes could lead "small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to look at their business in a completely different way".
CV Interilhas is a company established in 2019 with which the Cabo Verdean government has signed a 20-year concession contract for the public service of maritime passenger and cargo transport between islands, using four ships.
The company is led by the Portuguese group ETE, which holds 51% of the share capital (through its subsidiaries Transinsular and Transinsular Cabo Verde), with the remainder held by 11 companies in Cabo Verde.
In Cabo Verde, the ETE Group has approximately 4,000 square metres of covered storage space, including temperature-controlled areas, and is present on the main islands.
Owned exclusively by Portuguese capital, the ETE group operates in nine countries, employs more than 1,330 people, and generates annual turnover of more than €325 million.
LFO/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
