Naviera Armas has paid 450,000 euros for failing to comply with the commitments made with the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) in relation to traffic between the peninsula and the Canary Islands and in the inter-island traffic when it bought Trasmediterránea.
According to Competencia, the company breached part of the commitments presented as a condition to authorize the concentration, in May 2018.
With the payment of the fine, initially of 750,000 euros - which if the infraction is acknowledged and paid in advance can be reduced by 40% - the CNMC closes the sanctioning file.
In May 2018, the CNMC authorized the purchase of Trasmediterránea by Naviera Armas with the commitment that a third company, FRS, would begin to operate on the routes where Naviera Armas was present.
The Commission argues that the operation created a monopoly in the maritime passenger traffic on the route between the peninsula and the Canary Islands and posed risks to competition in the maritime transport of cargo and passengers in the links between the south of the peninsula and Melilla and in the inter-island Canaries, since a relevant competitor disappeared.
The commitments presented by Naviera Armas resolved these problems because it gave entry to FRS to provide passenger and cargo services on the Motril-Melilla and Huelva-Canarias routes, a circular route that would also allow it to serve inter-island traffic.
Both companies signed contracts in this regard for a duration of three years, extendable for one more, which would allow FRS to operate effectively on these routes, but in September 2023 the CNMC declared that Naviera Armas had breached part of the commitments accepted in 2018.
