#FerryNews - A former Irish Sea freightferry has in recent days returned to familiar duties running between Northern Ireland and England, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 120 trailer-unit Stena Scotia entered service on the Belfast-Heysham route to cover a sister, Stena Hibernia which went off service for dry-docking at Harland & Wolff. 

Up until 2013, Stena Scotia had operated the Irish Sea route.The 13,017grt vessel had sailed last week from Killingholme on the Humber Estuary, from where Stena Line operate a freight-only service to Hoek van Holland. 

Prior to the Irish Sea transfer, Stena Scotia's role on the North Sea was to permit the Dutch route's routine vessel Stena Transit to undergo dry-docking. Otherwise, Stena Scotia also operates from the same Humber port but to Rotterdam.

Earlier in the summer Afloat reported on a pair of larger Belfast-Heysham chartered-in vessels each with a 151 trailer capacity. They are the Stena Precision and Stena Performance which are to be returned to owners Seatruck for operations on the Warrenpoint-Heysham route.

#FerryNews- Operator Stena Line continues to remain committed to the Fishguard-Rosslare ferry route, Welsh county councillors have been assured.

Capt Ian Davies, Stena Line’s trade director for the Irish Sea, told councillors Kevin Doolin and Myles Pepper that the company enjoyed a “positive trading position” and “excellent forward bookings” for the summer season.

He was responding to local concerns about the future of Fishguard Port after the County Echo revealed that Stena had scrapped plans for a new £5m linkspan.

The move was seen as a blow to hopes of developing the port by attracting larger vessels.

The two councillors subsequently met with Capt Davies to share in a discussion on Stena’s decision to not proceed with the linkspan project in the short term.

For more on the story from County Echo, click here. 

#FerryNews - Ferry operator, Stena Line is set to bring a new giant vessel on the Holyhead-Dublin route reports Daily Post Wales.

Stena Line has confirmed 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 vessel - which will be among the most energy efficient in the world - will replace the Superfast X on the route.

The new ship will have capacity for 1,000 passengers, 120 cars as well as 3 100 freight lane meters delivering 4 daily sailings with an estimated crossing time of approximately 3.5 hrs.

It is a major vote of confidence in Holyhead at a time where there are concerns about the potential impact of Brexit on the port.

Ian Davies, Stena Line Trade Director Irish Sea South, said: “Freight volumes have surpassed the Celtic Tiger peaks of 2007 and we are confident that this upward trend will continue.

For more on this development including ship stats details, click here.

#FerryNews - The south Wales port of Fishguard's ferry terminal could close for up to three months according to the operator, Stena Line.

The temporary closure reports BBC News, would allow for the replacement of the mechanised bridge that links the ferries to the dock in a £5m project.

It is understood that the most likely period is from February next year.

Stena Line said it was "committed to examining the possibilities of investing in key elements of the port infrastructure".

The company is looking at replacing the current Linkspan provision, the key ship-to-shore connection that allows vehicles to board and disembark at different tide heights.

For more on this development, click here.

#FerryNews - Of all the stories that have come out of Brexit and Wales, the impact or otherwise on the country's port links with Ireland has been one of the biggest.

Wales so writes BBC News, has three ports that link Great Britain to Ireland, with warnings of long queues if, as a result of whatever Brexit negotiations produce, customs and border checks are needed.

One port, Holyhead, has had much written about it - with concerns new checks could result in delays and disrupt its business model.

But the smaller Port of Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, with its own roll-on, roll-off service, has also been a focus of some concerns.

• 'Free ports' urged to boost business
• Holyhead 'extra-complexity' post-Brexit
• Concern about Holyhead port
• 'Danger' to Welsh ferry ports

An assembly committee report last year found 100,000 lorries were carried to Ireland via ports in Pembrokeshire in 2015 - a third of those through Fishguard.

The UK government said it did not want a so-called "hard border" with Ireland and it is unclear what, if any, impact the final Brexit settlement would have on Wales' ports.

Jeremy Martineau, secretary of the Fishguard and Goodwick Chamber of Trade, said the organisation, which has 140 members, does not have a view on Brexit.

But asked what he thought personally about the impact of leaving the EU on the town, the Remain voter said: "It depends on what happens with the Ireland/Northern Ireland border."

He feared border checks would deter commercial traffic from using the link - something he said was more significant than passenger traffic - and was concerned about direct routes from Ireland to the continent being developed.

For further reading on the story click here. 

#FerryNews - More than £4m by Stena Line is to be spent on upgrades to improve infrastructure at the Port of Holyhead after recording a record year for freight growth.

The upgrades will include the creation of additional freight space at the Port and also extensive refurbishment to the Terminal 3 ramp. The work began last Friday and is take approximately five days to complete.

Captain Wyn Parry, Stena Line’s Irish Sea South Ports Manager, said: “We’re always looking at ways to improve our facilities for our freight and travel customers and the two upgrades will certainly have a positive impact on our ability to remain competitive and efficient.

 “The new lower deck of T3 was fabricated by McGregor Ltd and transported to the Port by barge. Unfortunately the exchange to the new linkspan will mean a minor inconvenience to Port customers but we have worked hard to minimise the impact.”

#FerryNews - Around 35,000 calves are expected to be exported via the replacement ferry on the Rosslare-to-Cherbourg route during the four-week period that the Stena Horizon is out of action.

According to Agriland, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michae Creed, confirmed that the Stena Carrier will takeover from the Stena Horizon on February 20, when it goes into dry dock for maintenance.

But, the the department added that it is difficult to predict future market developments. Further lesser numbers are also expected to be exported on the Dublin-to-Cherbourg route.

Commenting on the approval of the Stena Carrier, Minister Creed said: “Since this issue of the withdrawal of the Stena Horizon from service for routine maintenance first came to notice in October 2017, senior officials from my department have been actively engaging with all relevant stakeholders on the matter.

For more on the story, click here.

#FerryNews - An official keel-laying ceremony of a new RoPax for Stena Line took place at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China last Friday.

The traditional maritime event marks the start of the construction phase of the hull and the exterior parts of the vessel.

As previously reported on Afloat, the new RoPax vessels will be deployed on the Irish Sea and represent a key strategic investment to continue to further strengthen Stena Line’s business in the region.

“This is an important milestone in our exciting new ship building project”, said Niclas Mårtensson, CEO Stena Line, who also took part in the traditional Coin Ceremony where 4 coins (GBP, EUR, SEK and RMB) where placed under the keel-block as a symbol of good fortune.

The new vessels have a planned delivery timetable during 2019 and 2020. They will be 50% bigger than today’s standard RoPax vessels and this significant investment illustrates a continuation of Stena Line’s successful RoPax concept which mixes freight and passenger traffic as part of its operational business model.

“Our overall target is that these vessels will be the absolute state-of-the-art when it comes to energy efficiency, flexibility and customer service. In particular, we are placing heavy emphasis on developing a range of exciting new digital features which will provide our customers with unique additional services connected with their journey as well as developing a new, integrated digital onboard experience”, said Niclas Mårtensson.

“We have a positive outlook on the future and foresee continued growth within ferry transportation so this is an important strategic step in helping us to prepare our business to leverage that anticipated growth”, concluded Niclas Mårtensson.

Technical details of the new vessels:

Length: 214.5 m

Draught: 6.4 m

Breadth: 27.8 m

Car deck capacity: 3,100 lane meter + 120 cars

Passenger capacity: 1,000

Cabins: 175

Engines: 2 x V12 4-stroke diesel (2 x 12,600 kW)

Speed: 22 knots

Built: AVIC Weihai Shipyard, China

#FerryNews- Services on Stena Line's Belfast-Scotland and England routes in 2017 marked another record trading year for freight and passenger operations.

Freight volumes on its Belfast to Cairnryan, Liverpool and Heysham routes exceeded a record 514 000 units, which represents a 3% year on year increase.

Car volumes topped 360 000, a 2.5% year on year increase with over 1.5m passengers accounting for a similar 2.5% annual increase. Coach traffic delivered the biggest increase at 10.5% underscoring Belfast’s ongoing tourist boom.

Belfast services have been growing significantly over the last five years with a 15% growth in car volumes, a 13% rise in passenger numbers and a 19% increase in freight traffic. A programme of ongoing investment in its ports and ships has been a key factor in this success and today Belfast represents Stena Line’s largest operational hub with seven ships providing up to 22 daily crossing options.

Paul Grant, Stena Line’s Trade Director (Irish Sea North) said: “Whilst Stena Line has delivered a record performance in 2017, we will continue to focus on providing even higher levels of customer service in 2018 which is why we will be investing a further £500k in the upgrade of our onboard passenger facilities this spring.

Paul Grant added: “Consistent year on year growth of our Belfast-based services also positions us at the forefront of Stena Line’s future European investment plans which is why the Irish Sea has been able to attract a number of new build ships to be deployed in the region in 2019/20. While we continue to invest we will also lobby hard for road improvement upgrades, especially the dualling of the A75 in Scotland, to help improve overall journey times for the key Northern Ireland road haulage and tourism sectors.”

The ferry operator is Belfast Harbour’s largest logistics customer and a key contributor to its success in recent years. Joe O’Neil, CEO Belfast Harbour commented: “Belfast Harbour’s on-going success is supported by another record year for Stena Line. We have been partners for more than 20 years and have seen their business here grow significantly during that time. 2017 is no different with increases in passengers, freight, cars and coaches. This is down to their vision and hard work as well as adapting to the market and we look forward to continuing to support them and the growth of their business in the coming years.”

In addition to the Belfast services, Stena Line operate Dublin to Holyhead, Rosslare to Fishguard routes and a direct continental service on the Ireland-France link between Rosslare and Cherbourg

#CoastalNotes- A multi-million pound marina development planned for Fishguard Harbour, south Wales have fallen through.

This morning (Thursday) reports the Western Telegraph, the Conygar Investment Company released a statement to the London Stock Exchange, writing off their £2m investment in the Fishguard / Goodwick Marina Development.

Conygar said: "Conygar has been informed by Stena that they do not wish to have any further involvement in the proposed marina development and do not wish to proceed with the reclamation works of the harbour.

"Stena state that they are concerned that the marina development will interfere with the operation of the harbour and their ferry operations. They will also not support the promotion of the Harbour Revision Order, which is necessary to progress the development.

For much more on the decision by the ferry operator, click here.