92 FEATURED INTERVIEW Getting it right on the Gibraltar Strait FRS Iberia Maroc / DFDS’s Ronny Moriana Glindemann tells Philippe Holthof how the Strait of Gibraltar ferry operator is becoming a fully integrated member of the ever-growing DFDS family Danish ferry and logistics powerhouse DFDS completed its $200 million takeover of FRS Iberia Maroc in January 2024. However, FRS Iberia Maroc’s owner had initially planned to forge a strategic partnership with another ferry operator rather than selling the brand that has been operating on the Strait of Gibraltar since 2000. “It was a very transparent and public process with a mergers and acquisitions boutique,” says Ronny Moriana Glindemann, managing director of FRS Iberia Maroc / DFDS. “However, as the candidates were big names, a partnership was no longer the way forward for our German owners who instead opted to sell their Gibraltar Strait activities.” With Stena Line having recently taken a 49 per cent stake in Africa Morocco Link (AML), a competitor of FRS Iberia Maroc / DFDS, the obvious question is whether the company also made a bid for FRS Iberia Maroc. Moriana Glindemann keeps his cards close to his chest: “All I can say is that DFDS was not the sole big ferry operator that showed interest.” So, why did FRS Group want to sell a profitable business that operates in a busy market that keeps growing on the back of nearshoring? “In the wake of Covid-19, the obstruction [container ship] Ever Given caused in the Suez Canal and the Red Sea shipping crisis, production has moved to Morocco, closer to Europe,” says Moriana Glindemann. “While cargo volumes spike on account of the nearshoring phenomenon, the Gibraltar Strait passenger market remains rather stable with 60 per cent of the passengers carried during the three summer months. As is evidenced in other parts of the world, FRS Group first and foremost specialises in passenger-oriented, high-speed ferry operations. This has proved to be a profitable model and, while the freight element is not part of FRS Group’s core business, it has been growing significantly in the Strait of “ We have a loyal following with many of our clients making only one return trip per year during the summer months”
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