Construction begins on Stena Line’s hybrid ro-ro’s for Belfast – Heysham route
Ro-roStena Line held a steel cutting ceremony for the first of its ‘NewMax’ hybrid ro-ro’s in Weihai, China. The two new hybrid freight ro-ro’s are ordered from Stena RoRo and destined for the Belfast–Heysham route, with the first due to enter service in autumn 2025, according to the company's release.
Each of the two new NAOS-designed 147-metre vessels features an efficient hull form to maximize freight volumes and will provide 2,800 lane meters of capacity, which is an 80% increase on current ship capacities. The new vessels will be equipped to carry 12 passengers and 26 crew.
The new hybrid ships will play a key role in Stena Line’s journey to sustainable fuel as they will both be able to operate on methanol fuel. Stena Line is currently working closely with the supply chain of methanol on securing future volumes of e-methanol to fulfil its strategic ambition of shifting to renewable fuels.
In addition to the multi-million-pound investment in the ships, Stena Line announced last month it had signed an agreement with Peel Ports to operate in Heysham Port until the end of century, reaffirming its confidence in the continued success of the route.
As part of the new agreement, Stena Line and Peel Ports will aim to secure the shore infrastructure to provide additional electrical capacity to facilitate the future goal of powering the new ships by shore power. The new vessels will have in-built technologies that can take advantage of both battery propulsion and shore power. The ships will be futureproofed with a progressive propulsion configuration that ultimately will allow the vessels to be decarbonised.
