Ferry Company Lays Down Four New Vessels for Irish Sea Routes

CHINA – SWEDEN – A ceremony has been held at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China to mark the start of the construction of the first of four RoPax vessels ordered by Gothenberg-based Stena Line. The vessels have a planned delivery timetable during 2019 and 2020 with Stena having an option on a further four vessels as part of the overall contract. According to Stena the vessels will be 50% larger than today's standard RoPax, as well as the most fuel efficient vessels in their class. Niclas Mårtensson, CEO of Stena Line, said:

“The new RoPax vessels will be among the most fuel efficient in the world with approximately 25% lower CO2 emissions per cargo unit than comparable RoPax tonnage. Our aim is to lead the development of sustainability within the shipping industry and set a new industry standard when it comes to operational performance, emissions and cost competiveness. The vessels will run on traditional fuel, but are designed to the class notation “gas ready” and are also prepared for scrubbers as well as catalytic converters, giving us even greater flexibility for the future.”

The vessels, known as the “E-Flexer” class, will have a capacity of more than 3 000 lane meters in a drive-through configuration and will accommodate approximately 1 000 passengers with 175 cabins and offer a full range of passenger services.

Stena Line is one of Europe's leading ferry companies with 36 vessels and 20 routes in Northern Europe. Stena Line is an important part of the European logistics network and develops new intermodal freight solutions by combining transport by rail, road and sea. Stena also plays an important role for tourism in Europe with its extensive passenger operations. The order for the new vessels further cements this commitment to the market and Mårtensson continued:

“Through standardisation and built-in flexibility, we are planning to secure a highly reliable ferry operation which will provide even better support to our customers and help them to grow. We foresee continued growth within ferry transportation and this is an important step in preparing our business for that growth.”

Stena Line has also reported that it has seen strong growth with its freight business on the Baltic Sea South route. Need for increased capacity has seen a fourth ship added to sailings between Gdynia and Karlskrona starting from the 28th of August. Marek Kiersnowski, Trade Director - responsible for Stena Line's operation between Poland and Sweden, said:

“Over these last few years we have experienced a very positive volume development and we believe this will continue and we are very happy to introduce a fourth ship since we are in need of extra capacity to be able to continue to grow. Our route between Poland and Sweden is strategically important to Stena Line and an integral part of the infrastructure linking the Central part of Europe with Scandinavia.”