Swedish ferry company Stena Line has hit a key milestone in its fleet investment programme with the keel laying in China of the first ‘NewMax’ vessel, which will be deployed on the Belfast-Heysham route from autumn 2025.
The ship, which is one of two coming into service on the Irish Sea, has been officially named ‘Stena Futura’.
The keel laying ceremony of the first of the two hybrid vessels - which are being built to run on methanol - took place in China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in WeiHai.
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A priority during the construction of the vessels will be to provide built-in technologies that can take advantage of both battery propulsion and shore power, where available.
The ships will be future-proofed with a progressive propulsion configuration that will ultimately allow the vessels to be decarbonised.
Stena Line is currently working with partners Peel Ports and Belfast Harbour to secure the smooth introduction of the vessel as well the provision of shore infrastructure needed to provide additional electrical capacity to enable the future goal of powering the new ships by shore power.
“As demand for freight across the Irish Sea continues to grow, the increase in capacity will be universally welcomed by hauliers and exporters.” says Paul Grant, Irish Sea trade director for Stena Line.
“Stena Line is committed to taking responsibility and being part of the solution to climate change. Investing in new ships, prepared to run on alternative fuels as well as electricity, is an important part of our strategy of moving towards new sustainable fuels and setting new industry standards.”
