Making of a ferry

ATIMELAPSE of the construction of the giant Stena Line ferry set to sail on the Holyhead to Dublin route has been released.

Stena Line confirmed in June that the first of its new RoPax ferries currently under construction in China is planned to enter service on the Irish Sea route early 2020.

The Stena E-Flexer ves- sel - which will be among the most energy efficient in the world - will replace the Superfast X on the route.

Now they have released a timelapse video of its construction so far at the Avic Weihai Shipyard in China.

Stena has ordered a total of three E-Flexer ships which will be bigger than today’s standard RoPax vessels at 215 metres long, with a freight capacity of 3,100 lane meters and the space to carry 120 cars and 1,000 passengers.

The other two vessels will run on the Liverpool to Belfast route in 2020 and 2021.

Ian Davies, Stena Line Trade Director Irish Sea South, said: “We are pleased to report that construction is going to plan on our new generation E-Flexer vessel which is set to increase our freight capacity significantly on the Holyhead to Dublin route and raise service standards for our travel and freight customers.

“The introduction of this ship, along with two new E-Flexer vessels on the Liverpool to Belfast route, is a real vote of confidence in the development of our Irish Sea operations and lays the foundation for continued future growth following a record year last year, in which we carried over 800,000 freight units on our routes to and from the Island of Ireland.”

Stena Line Chief Operating Officer Peter Arvidsson said: “Having visited the site several times, we are very impressed with the work being carried out by Stena RoRo, the Avic shipyard and its subcontractors.

“With continued investment in our fleet, we want to lead the development of sustainable shipping and set new industry standards when it comes to operational performance, emissions and cost competitiveness.”