Stena Line building two new dual-fuel ships to serve Heysham-Belfast route

Swedish ferry operator Stena Line is going to add two new vessels on the Irish Sea, expanding its Belfast-Heysham freight service.

PHOTO: A model of Stena Line's new dual-fuel freight vessel. Stena Line

The vessels will be able to run on both methanol and diesel, while battery propulsion may be added later, the company said. The vessels are due to enter service in autumn 2025.

Stena Line has secured future volumes of e-methanol to fulfil its aim of shifting to renewable fuels. This will help the company to reduce 30% of its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030.

Stena Germanica, one of the company's ferries, has been operating on methanol since 2015.

“We have operated a very popular service on Heysham-Belfast for several years now, but with restricted capacity it has been challenging to meet increased market growth,” the company said in a statement.

“With the extra capacity, we will now be able to significantly enhance our service on this route and complement our Birkenhead, Cairnryan and Holyhead services," it added.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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