Buquebus

Buquebus is a Uruguayan ferry operator founded in 1982 by Juan Carlos López Mena under the name Ríos Argentinos, which quickly grew into the leading transport company in the Río de la Plata region. By the mid-2010s the company was carrying more than 2 million passengers a year.

Buquebus connects Buenos Aires in Argentina with Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay across the Río de la Plata. Operating under Los Cipreses S.A., the company runs a fleet of nine ships and offers multiple daily departures year-round, including 6 daily crossings (45 weekly) on its main route. The fastest ferry from Buenos Aires to Montevideo takes about 2 hours 30 minutes.

The flagship HSC Francisco, an LNG-powered Incat catamaran built in Australia in 2010 and put into service in 2013, reached a top speed of 58.1 knots (107 km/h) and was for a time the fastest passenger ferry in the world. It carries up to 1,024 passengers and 150 vehicles.

In 1994 Buquebus took over its main rival Aliscafos, gaining a de facto monopoly in high-speed passenger ferry traffic. In the 1990s the company introduced fast ferries that drastically cut journey times and drew passengers away from airlines. In July 2024, Buquebus, Banco Santander and IFC signed financing for the China Zorrilla, the world's largest electric ferry, with capacity for 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles.