Chinese yard cuts steel for Stena’s third RoPax
The E-Flexer series of RoPax vessels is being built at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China
Construction of all three 215m-long vessels is now in progress and on time, the company said, with the first ship setting sail on the Holyhead to Dublin route in early 2020. The second vessel will be deployed on the Liverpool to Belfast crossing later that year and will be joined by the third ship in 2021.
The three E-Flexer vessels are larger than today’s standard RoPax units, with freight capacity of 3,100 lane metres and space to carry 120 cars and 1,000 passengers. Speaking of the vessels’ construction programme, Stena Line COO Peter Arvidsson, said: “We are delighted to report that the steel-cutting ceremony for the third of our Irish Sea E-Flexer ships has now taken place and that construction is going to plan across all three of our new generation RoPax vessels.”
Stena also has two larger E-Flexer units under construction, ordered in July and due to join the fleet in 2022. These 240m-long RoPax vessels will have freight capacity of 3,600 lane metres and space for 1,200 passengers.
