Last week, Stena held a joint ‘launch’ and ‘keel-laying’ ceremony at the China Merchants Jinling Shipyard, Weihai, celebrating the release of STENA FUTURA into the water for the first time, and the laying of the keel for STENA CONNECTA, which marks the beginning of the build.
Once operational, the vessels will enhance freight capacity by 40% on the Belfast-Heysham route in response to an increase in customer demand for services between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The two NewMax hybrid vessels will play a key role in Stena Line’s journey to sustainable fuel as they will both be able to operate on methanol fuel.
They will also be enhanced with built in technologies that will be able to utilise both battery propulsion and shore power, when available.
Stena Line is working closely with methanol suppliers, ensuring future volumes of e-methanol and fulfilling their strategic ambition of shifting to renewable fuels and cutting 30% of its CO2 emissions by 2030.
Source: Stena Line
