Sunday 13 September. The meeting was the first between the two since STENA ESTRID left the shipyard in Weihai, China, last November. She is currently operating on the Belfast-Cairnryan route and STENA EDDA on the Belfast-Liverpool route.
In the beginning of 2021 their sister STENA EMBLA will join on the Liverpool route.
Stena Line was forced to remove one freight ship from its Belfast hub because of COVID related drop in freight volumes.
Stena Line has now announced that it will charter SEATRUCK PANORAMA to help boost freight capacity on its Belfast to Liverpool and Belfast to Heysham routes.
Reason: increase in freight demand during summer and anticipated busy autumn.
SEATRUCK PANORAMA is expected to start service on September 2, and will make 10 sailings weekly between Belfast and Liverpool/Heysham.
The addition of Panorama on the Northern Ireland to England corridor will increase freight capacity by 28% and frequency will rise from 46 to 56 crossings weekly compared to the present
In January 2021, Stena Line will further boost freight capacity when it adds the newly built STENA EMBLA to its Belfast – Liverpool service.
The vessels, that are planned to be delivered in 2022, are the last of five vessels of the E-Flexer series that Stena Line ordered from sister company Stena RoRo, that are being built at the CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard in China.
Of the first three vessels, the first two, STENA ESTRID and STENA EDDA, have already entered service on the Irish Sea earlier this year. The third vessel, STENA EMBLA, is in the final stages of construction and is expected to go in to service on the Belfast-Liverpool route according to plan in early 2021.
The two larger E-Flexer vessels will be 240m long with a capacity of 3,600 lane meters, compared to the first three which are 214m and have a capacity of 3,100 lane meters. In total, the larger vessels also get 50 % more cabins and beds, 30 % increased passenger capacity and an additional 15% cargo capacity.
In addition to the five new builds another two existing vessels in the fleet, STENA LAGAN and STENA MERSEY, will be extended by 36 metres and modified with efficient drive-through capabilities for loading and unloading in two levels. In total the modifications will increase the cargo capacity by 30% and add on a total of 75 cabins. The two vessels are expected to be back in traffic in Stena Line’s network in 2021.
With the potential easing of lockdown restrictions and the re-emergence of non-essential travel, the Swedish ferry company Stena Line has announced a set of safety measures aimed at ensuring ferry travel is the safest form of public transport. Social distancing, fog machines, fresh sea air inside the ships and the recommended wearing of face coverings, are all seen as key to reassuring customers about the future of ferry travel as countries reopen their borders in the coming weeks.
Stena Line Adds Ships Again On North Sea Routes
Due to a steady recovery in freight volumes on the North Sea during the last weeks, roro ships HATCHE and STENA FORERUNNER will return to commercial service on the Stena Line freight routes Europoort – Killingholme and Europoort – Harwich, respectively.
As of 15 June 2020, Stena Line will be back to having 8 ships operating on its 4 routes on the North Sea.
Stena Line will be reducing freight capacity on its Belfast – Liverpool (Birkenhead) service due to a decline in freight demand as a consequence of the Coronavirus crisis. Roro vessel STENA FORECASTER will be removed from service resulting in a reduction of 10 trips per week.
On March 9th, Stena Line launched its largest ship ever on the Belfast – Liverpool route, the brand-new STENA EDDA. STENA EDDA replaced the smaller STENA LAGAN and at the time increased capacity for both freight and travel customers.
In early 2021, Stena Line will replace STENA MERSEY with a further new ship, STENA EMBLA. These two new ropax ferries will increase freight capacity by almost 30% and will double passenger capacity compared with the vessels they replace.
Due to the reduction of passengers caused by the ongoing pandemic, STENA VISION will be on standby from May 4 until further notice, in so-called “warm lay-up”.
The vessel will be replaced by the younger STENA BALTICA in the timetable.
STENA BALTICA is more freight-oriented than STENA VISION.
Operations on the Gdynia-Karlskrona route, especially when it comes to freight transport, will be supplemented by a third ship – STENA NORDICA – after his return from a charter agreement with the UK Ministry of Transport.
Currently, seven out of 38 vessels in the Stena Line connection network are excluded from use: fast ferry STENA CARISMA, ropax STENA DANICA, roro STENA FORECASTER, STENA FORERUNNER, ropax STENA LAGAN (presently in Turkey, Tersan shipyard), ropax SASSNITZ and roro HATCHE.
STENA SAGA, on the other hand, was transferred to Stena RoRo. (all ship names link to MarineTraffic)
Stena Line continues to operate ferry routes Nynäshamn-Ventspils and Travemünde-Liepaja. In order to prevent the further spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak in the country, the Latvian authorities have announced increased border controls and a temporary suspension of international passenger transportation from March 17 to April 14. Stena Line will continue to operate a freight service on the ferry routes Nynäshamn-Ventspils and Travemünde-Liepaja.
Danish and Polish authorities announced a temporary closure of their borders. Stena Line therefore has suspended all passengers traffic to these countries until further notice. (Gothenburg-Frederikshavn, Halmstad- Grenaa, Karlskrona-Gdynia)
Shipments of freight will continue at present
Oslo – Frederikshavn fully suspended until further notice.
On Friday 31 January 2020 Stena Line closed the Varberg-Grenaa route. The day after, on Saturday 1 February the Halmstad – Grenaa route was officially opened. The inauguration started early Saturday morning in Grenaa with almost a thousand visitors attending. The Transport minister of Denmark Benny Engelbrecht attended the ceremony in Grenaa and joined the sea journey to Halmstad where 8,000 people waited for Stena Nautica on the quay.
There was an open day for the ferry during where thousands of people visited the ship. The official inauguration ceremony was conducted by Dan Sten Olsson, the owner and CEO of Stena AB, the infrastructure minister of Sweden Tomas Eneroth, the governor of Halland Lena Sommestad and Transport minister of Denmark Benny Engelbrecht.
The new route will be operated by STENA NAUTICA with a capacity of 900 passengers and 1265 lane meters. Crossing time is 4h35. Up to two departures per day.
Stena Line’s ambition is to double both the passenger and freight volumes within five years.
Stena Line’s CEO Niclas Mårtensson on Sky News
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