Stena Line Announces Super Ships To Shape Future Of NI Ferry Travel
Released on: September 19, 2011, 3:30 pm
Author:
Stena Line
Industry:
Travel
Stena Line has announced the refurbishment of two giant ships
that the company will be introducing on the Irish Sea later this year.
The identical 'sister' ships 'Stena Superfast VII' and 'Superfast VIII' will
be the biggest ferries ever to sail between Northern Ireland and Scotland and will
undergo a refit programme at the Remotova shipyard in Poland which the company
claims will ensure that they are the most modern, comfortable and best designed
ferries ever to ply the Irish Sea. The ships will carry passengers on Stena Line's
new Belfast to Cairnryan route route which launches
in November
Stena Line has appointed specialist marine outfitters MJM Marine from Newry, a
company with considerable experience in the global cruise ship industry, to ensure
that the new ships are fitted out to the highest standards in order to provide
customers with a unique top quality ferry travel experience.
Paul Grant, Stena Line's Route Director, said: "In November this year we will be
launching a new purpose built port and terminal at Cairnryan in Scotland which will
herald a new route for our Northern Ireland to Scotland service and we will
also be introducing two identical ships onto the route, the biggest ever ferries to
sail between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
It will be a huge milestone for this service and the culmination of an ongoing
investment programme which started with the construction of the new terminal at VT4
in Belfast back in 2008. The combination of the new port and ships will enable Stena Line to reduce the journey time to 2
hours 15 minutes and will provide a level of quality, comfort and facilities never
before seen on the Irish Sea.
“Not only that, the fact that the two ships are identical, allied with our already
excellent customer service, means that customers are guaranteed a consistency of top
quality on board service and facilities that we haven’t been able to offer before,
another great advantage for passengers and freight drivers.
“That’s why we have appointed specialist marine outfitters MJM Marine who have a
wealth of experience in the cruise ship industry and will play a vital role in
enabling us to offer customers the best possible ferry travel experience,” he added.
“The ship layout will also be changed to accommodate our freight customers and I’m
delighted to say that for the first time on the route, there will be no deck height
restrictions, which means that we can accommodate virtually any load our freight
customers have. We believe that this, alongside the fact that we sail direct from
and to Belfast with easy access to the motorway system, will provide us with a
unique competitive advantage in the market,” concluded Mr Grant.
Jonathan Guest, Managing Director of MJM Marine said: "We take immense pride to be
involved with these prestigious refits and view it as an endorsement of MJM's
knowledge and experience of working with Stena on their Irish sea routes."
Built in Germany in 2002, the new Stena Superfast vessels will each be able to
accommodate 1200 passengers, 660 cars or 110 freight units and will operate up to 12
daily departures on the Cairnryan to Belfast route all year round.
About Stena Line:
Stena Line is the market leader on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest fleet and the
widest choice of routes between Britain and Ireland, including Stranraer to Belfast,
Holyhead to Dublin Port, Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire, Fishguard to Rosslare and the
two new routes recently acquired from DFDS namely Liverpool to Belfast and Heysham
to Belfast. The ferry company carries over two
million passengers on its Irish Sea routes each year, more than its rival ferry
operators combined.
PR Contact:
Eamonn Hewitt
Communications and PR Manager Irish Sea
Stena Line
The Ferry Terminal
Dun Laoghaire
Co. Dublin
00353 1 2047617
www.stenaline.co.uk
Back to previous page
Home page
Submit your press release