#CO2reduced - Strategic efforts to reduce its environmental footprint at Stena Line is well on course according to a recent company report. Last year the ferry operator cut emissions of sulphur by 53%.

Stena AB’s Sustainability Report for 2015, which was recently published, shows reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions for the shipping companies within the shipping group.  Stena Line has exceeded its targets for reduction of emissions of both sulphur and CO2.

One of the largest changes to affect the shipping industry was introduced in 2015 with tough new regulations on sulphur emissions being laid down for ferry operators in Northern Europe. This regulation means that the permitted emission levels of sulphur from vessels has been reduced from a maximum 1 per cent to 0.1 per cent within the SECA area from January 1st 2015.

For Stena’s shipping companies, with 93 vessels operating all over the world, the new rules have resulted in a reduction of over 4,000 tonnes of sulphur from 2014 to 2015, which represents an impressive 15 per cent reduction. For Stena Line’s 34 vessels operating in Europe, 24 of which operate within the SECA area, the total emission of sulphur has been reduced by 53 per cent.

Carl-Johan Hagman, CEO at Stena Line, said: “Focusing on sustainability is not only a priority for Stena Line, but for the entire industry which needs long term sustainable fuel options to maintain its competiveness. We are currently conducting several initiatives looking at alternative fuels within Stena. Our Methanol Project on Stena Germanica is one example. We are also looking at battery powered vessels, which is now starting to become an interesting option for shipping.

“Since 2015 Stena’s shipping companies have been delivering a dedicated program called the Energy Saving Programme (ESP), to reduce fuel consumption. The target is a reduction of 2.5 per cent annually and the result for 2015 was a reduction of 2.8 per cent. For Stena Line the efforts led to a reduction of fuel consumption of 4 per cent per nautical mile and a reduction of CO2 emissions of 2.5 per cent per nautical mile,” concluded Carl-Johan.

Erik Lewenhaupt, Head of Sustainability, Stena Line, said: “We have a broad scope and are currently driving several different initiatives in a bid to reduce our fuel consumption within ESP. It covers everything from changing bulbs and propellers to enabling our ferries to sail with reduced water resistance. Other initiatives include using digital solutions such as our Fuel Management System, where we collect a huge amount of data from the systems onboard our 34 ferries which is them analysed and used to optimise our day to day operations. We have set an ambitious target of trying to reduce CO2 emissions by 35% per nautical mile by 2030.”

#ValueContested - Stena Line is contesting the £1.25m rateable value set on its ferry port in Cairnryan, claiming it could compromise future site investment.

BBC News writes that an appeal against the Assessor for Dumfries and Galloway will go to the Lands Tribunal for Scotland in July.

The company claimed the new rate was "effectively double" what it paid at its old site in Stranraer.

Assessor Keith Mossop described the hearing as "really just a procedural matter."

Stena Line moved its operations to the site in 2011 after it left its facilities in nearby Stranraer.

It said it had been in "protracted negotiations" in relation to the rates assessment at the new port.

"Stena Line made a significant investment (in excess of £80m) when it opened its new state-of-the art ferry port and terminal at Cairnryan in 2011 to replace its former Stranraer facility," said a statement.

"Despite this investment, designed to provide south west Scotland with a modern freight and tourism gateway, the council has assessed Stena Line for its non-domestic rates for the new port at a rate effectively double that of its former facility.

"Stena Line is concerned that this significant additional running cost may impact upon future investment at Loch Ryan Port."

For more on the south-west Scottish ferryport, click here

#RopaxOrder - An order for four new RoPax ferries subject to Stena board approval by end of April are planned for delivery during 2019 and 2020, with an option for another quartet of vessels.

The vessels will be optimized for efficiency and flexibility and will be built by AVIC Shipyard in China. The intention is that the four initial vessels will be used within Stena Lines route network in Northern Europe.

“We are very pleased that Stena have signed a contract for four vessels with an option for another four. 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. 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”, says Carl-Johan Hagman, Managing Director of Stena Line.

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 and offer a full range of passenger services. The main engines will be “gas ready”, prepared to be fueled by either methanol or LNG.

“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”, says Carl-Johan 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.

#StenaDublin20th - On this day 20 years ago, Stena Line began operating an inaugural sailing of its flagship on the Dublin-Holyhead route, writes The Irish Independent.

The anniversary was celebrated in Dublin Port today with model and presenter Vogue Williams posing for photos on the company's Superfast X ship.

"The demand for this route has grown significantly since November 1995 and we now travel from Dublin to Holyhead and back four times daily," said Orla Noonan, Head of Travel at Stena Line Ireland.

20 isn't the only number circulated in a press release marking the occasion. In two decades, Stena has operated 39,000 sailings, carrying 8.9 million people on the route. For more click here.

Afloat adds that another significant '20' was marked this day last week as the operator also celebrated two decades of ferry services out of Belfast Port.

#StenaBelfast20th - This year marks twenty years since Stena Line took up its ferry services in Belfast and 2015 is to be the operators busiest year to date for car and freight numbers.

In the two decades since it moved to Belfast on this day in 1995, Stena Line has expanded its services significantly. Currently the company employs over 900 staff, transports 1.4 million passengers, 318 000 cars and almost 500 000 freight units annually.

When the ferry firm established its Belfast operation on 12th November 1995, it operated three ferries to one port in Scotland. (See recent ferry award for Belfast-Cairnryan). Today, that service has expanded to seven vessels operating year round services to Cairnryan, Birkenhead (Liverpool) and Heysham with a mix of freight and leisure traffic.

Stena Line has delivered some impressive numbers on its Belfast services over the last two decades including transporting 26 million passengers, 5.5 million cars and over 4 million freight units. But as Route Manager (Irish Sea North) Paul Grant states, behind the numbers it’s the quality and reliability of the service that has been the hallmark of Stena Line’s successful Belfast operation, commenting: “The opportunity to develop a significant presence in Belfast was always going to be based on how well we developed our customer offering. Today our modern fleet offers a range of quality facilities have helped to set the standard for travel on the Irish Sea including Spa facilities, exclusive Plus lounges, family suites and dedicated Freight Driver lounges. When these facilities are back up by award winning crews and market leading punctuality and reliability figures, the next two decades look equally as exciting.”

The company has also taken a positive view of the development of the local economy over the last two decades. Hans Nilsson, Stena Line’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) said: ”Stena Line and the Stena Group are long term supporters of Belfast. Over the last two decades alone, working in partnership with Belfast Harbour, we have invested over £330 million in establishing and developing our services to and from Belfast. In fact this week we will have an eighth Stena vessel in Belfast with the 117 000 ton ice-breaker series Stena Arctica undergoing a major refit at Harland & Wolff, further testimony of support for and confidence in the local Northern Ireland economy.”

A number of notable milestones over the last two decades in Stena Line's Irish Sea North have including the construction of a new £35 million VT4 terminal in Belfast in 2008. Three years later in 2011 the company established a new port and terminal facility at Loch Ryan Port (Cairnryan) adding two award winning Superfast vessels. In the same year it also acquired the Belfast-Liverpool/Heysham routes from DFDS.

#ScottishFerryAward- The best ferry operator award went to Stena Line at the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association Travel Awards (SPAA) 2015, reports The Stornaway Gazette.

The ferry firm is the market leader on the Irish Sea, carrying approximately three million passengers on its UK-Ireland routes each year, more than its rival ferry operators combined.

SPAA, the world’s oldest travel organisation, holds the awards annually to recognise excellence in Scotland’s travel industry and Stena Line has received the best ferry operator accolade a number of times.

For more click the link to the regional newspaper here.

#BerthingTrials - Stena Superfast X made her first ever call to Dublin Port today, where berthing trials of the new Holyhead route ferry took place in the Irish capital, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The berthing trial-run at Ferry Terminal 2 saw the 1,200 passenger / 480 car capacity ferry complete the exercise before lunctime. She then departed for the return leg to her Wales homeport, where the 30,285 tons made her delivery voyage to Holyhead last week fresh from a major refit in Poland. 

She is to be named in Dublin Port next week at Berth 51, where a combined naming ceremony and official launch is to take place at that terminal. Superfast will partner the route's Stena Adventurer which too was named alongside Berth 51 in 2003, then the new two tier ro-ro ramp was also officially opened on that occasion.

With no fewer than 10 decks, Stena Superfast X will offer passenger facilities among them family lounges featuring X-Box stations. In addition, a dedicated lorry drivers lounge and almost 2kms of lane space to boost capacity for vehicles and freight traffic.

Stena Superfast X will make two return sailings daily, completing the crossing in 3 hours and 15 minutes. Together she and Stena Adventurer will operate 28 return sailings weekly.

The newcomer is the only Stena Irish Sea ferry to be registered in the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Unlike predecessor 'Nordica' (soon to be displaced) and Stena Adventurer are both registered in London.

Superfast X will join an existing pair of Stena's Irish Sea serving sisters, Superfasts VII and VIII which in 2011 entered between Cairnryan-Belfast, from where they are registered.

#ShipsSwap – Stena Nordica is due to leave the Dublin-Holyhead route next month in a swap that sees replacement 'Superfast X' which as previously reported had served on the Straits of Dover, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Stena Line are to transfer the outgoing 'Nordica' (see related report) to DFDS Seaways Dover-Calais route from where the newcomer Stena Superfast X had operated the UK-France link under the name Dieppe Seaways.

The 29,800 tonnes 'Superfast' ceased Straits of Dover sailings last November when a two-year charter from Stena Ro Ro had expired. She is to join the Dublin-Holyhead route's second ship Stena Adventurer in her new Irish Sea role.

The move is a consolidation and expansion of services by Stena Line out of Dublin Port following the announcement to close the neighbouring route from Dun Laoghaire to Wales.  

DFDS Seaways has confirmed that it will be adding the Nordica to the short-sea link following the ro-pax's final sailing for Stena scheduled on 8 March prior. In turn the Stena Superfast X is set to make her inaugural sailing in the early hours of the next day. 

The entry of Nordica will bring DFDS Seaways' France fleet back to five vessels since Dieppe Seaways stood down and went to layup in Dunkerque.

She is undergoing in Poland as reported on Afloat.ie a major refit and conversion by MacGregor at Romentowa's Nauta Yard in Gdynia.

Likewise the Nordica will be dry-docked for a refit and rebranding before joining the DFDS Seaways single route operated ferry, Calais Seaways. The 405 passenger newcomer is expected to be ready for business in the next couple of months.

Carsten Jensen, senior vice president at DFDS Seaways, commented: "We have been looking for a suitable fifth ship on our Dover-France routes to bring our Calais service back up to two vessels".

"The introduction of the Nordica, coupled with an engine upgrade on Calais Seaways, will help us restore a reliable daily service of up to 20 sailings between Dover and Calais, which is good news for our customers and good news for our loyal crew and operations teams too."

The newcomer is to serve the premier UK-continent link in which last month a case by the Competition Appeal Tribunal's ruling on the SCOP/Eurotunnel was welcomed by DFDS Seaways.

#StenaSuperfastX – Stena Line's announcement last week to consolidate its Dublin-Holyhead route and close Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead HSS services, will be manifested by the debut of 'Superfast X' to Dublin Port in early March, writes Jehan Ashmore.

According to the operator's UK website, Stena Superfast X is to make her first sailing as the route's 'flagship' from Dublin Port to Holyhead in the early hours of Monday 9 March.

The Superfast X at 29,800 tonnes will directly replace the Stena Nordica.  The larger newcomer will  join the route's other existing second ship, Stena Adventurer of 44, 000 tonnes.

By introducing Superfast X, the ferry with a 1,200 passenger capacity compares starkly to Nordica which only handled 400. In addition freight capacity will be 2kms of lane metres.

In order to achieve these loading capabilities, work on Superfast X as previously reported by Afloat.ie, are reaching the final phases of a major refurbishment and internal reconfiguration by MacGregor.

This will see facilities for passenger space quadruple as decks eight, nine and most of deck 10 are exclusively for guests instead of the confined single deck facilities found on Stena Nordica.

The works on Superfast X, previously Dieppe Seaways, that ran DFDS Seaways Dover-Calais services are been carried out by MacGregor in association with the Romentowa shipyard in Gydnia, Poland.

This yard on the Baltic Sea is not to be confused with another Romentowa facility in the neighbouring port of Gdansk, where a further pair of 'Superfast' sisters, were extensively converted into Stena's Superfast VII and VIII. For a previous related report, click HERE. 

Following radical refits, the transformed pair where launched in 2011 on the new Belfast-Cairnryan route, following the closure of the Scottish port of Stranraer.

Nordica's is scheduled to make her final sailing from Holyhead on Sunday 8 March, by arrival late at night into Dublin Port. 

As mentioned above, the inaugural Superfast X sailing is scheduled to take over from Nordica's sailing roster during a transition in the Irish port.

#FerryDryDocking – Stena Europe (1981/24,828grt), the Rosslare-Fishguard ferry is this morning bound for Belfast, where she is to be given an annual overhaul in a dry-dock at Harland & Wolff, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The operator, Stena Line have taken the 'Europe' off-service on the southern Ireland-Wales route until the dry-docking is scheduled to be completed on 18 February.

An alternative replacement service with Irish Ferries is available on the Rosslare-Pembroke Dock. Passengers with bookings for Stena Line are advised to contact the operator on 053 91 61567 if they haven't already done so, for further details visit HERE.

According to the Stena website, the first sailing after the replacement service will be the 02.30 Fishguard – Rosslare on 18 February.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Irish Ferries transferred yesterday the Isle of Inishmore to the Rosslare-Pembroke, her routine route and follows almost two months service on the Dublin-Holyhead route.

During Isle of Inishmore's second month on the Dublin route in January, she was off-service to undergo overhaul at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead.

Her return brings her fresh into service, as she has already completed an overnight round trip on the Pembroke route.