European ferry operator Stena Line has announced that it has signed a contract for four of the world’s most fuel efficient RoPax ferries to be delivered in 2019 and 2020.
The four newbuilds will be built by AVIC Shipyard in China and used to serve Stena Lines’ ferry routes in Northern Europe. The contract includes options to build up to four additional ferries.
The ferries will be designated as “gas ready”, to be a fueled by either methanol or liquified natural gas.
“During the course of the past 24 months our engineering staff has managed to develop a design that is not only 50% larger than today’s standard RoPax vessels, but more importantly, incorporates the emission reduction and efficiency initiatives that have been developed throughout the Stena Group during the past years,” commented Carl-Johan Hagman, Managing Director of Stena Line. These ships will be the most fuel efficient ferries in the world and will set a new industry standard when it comes to operational performance, emissions and cost competitiveness, positioning Stena Line to support its customers in the next decades”.
The vessels will have a capacity of more than 3,000 lane meters in a drive-through configuration and will accommodate about 1,000 passengers.
“With this investment we are building on our successful RoPax concept mixing freight and passengers. Through standardization we secure a reliable operation and through flexibility we can provide an even better support to our customers and help them to grow,” added Hagman.
“We foresee a continued demand growth for short sea services in Northern Europe and in many other parts of the world. Ferry transportation will play an essential part in shaping tomorrow’s logistics infrastructure if we are to have sustainable societies. Not only is transportation on sea the most environmentally efficient way of moving goods, it is also infrastructure that provides reliable and speedy logistics with very limited public cost. Through this investment we prepare Stena Line for further growth,” says Dan Sten Olsson, Chairman in Stena Line.
The order is subject to board approval by the end of April.
Family-owned Stena Line is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden and currently operates a fleet of 35 vessels serving 22 routes in Northern Europe.
In March 2015, Stena Line took re-delivery of the Stena Germanica, the world’s first commercial ship to run on methanol as its main fuel. The 1,300 passenger ferry was converted from diesel at the Remontowa Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland.