Swedish ferry company, Stena Line is to boost its new Dublin to Liverpool ferry route by securing a freight only vessel, BORE SONG, to operate on the service. The chartered ship will increase freight capacity on the route by 30%.
Stena Line’s Dublin to Liverpool (Birkenhead) dedicated freight service has been operational since 15 February 2024 with STENA HORIZON serving customers temporarily, whilst the company searched for a longer-term solution.
BORE SONG is scheduled to undergo modifications and is expected to enter service in mid-April. With capacity for almost 3,000 lane metres of freight, the ship will provide significantly more space and is well suited for this unaccompanied freight route. Once BORE SONG is operational, Stena Line will be able to restore normal capacity and operations on its Rosslare to Fishguard and Rosslare to Cherbourg routes.
BORE SONG is owned by shipping company Bore, part of the Spliethoff Group. In recent times, BORE SONG has been in service on Transfennica services, this being another Spliethoff Group company. Most recently she has been used on the Lübeck, Germany to Paldiski, Estonia service. Her sister, BORE SEA remains on the same route. The 2001-built vessel was built by the Flensburger, Flensburg yard which constructed a steady stream of similarly designed RoRo vessels.
The vessel is the second RoRo vessel from the Spleithoff Group to see service on an Irish Sea charter in recent times. Transfennica’s TIMCA has been on charter to Irish Ferries for the past month. She has been operating on the Dublin to Holyhead and Cherbourg routes, whilst OSCAR WILDE covers Pembroke Dock to Rosslare, with the chartered NORBAY in dry-dock at Falmouth. With NORBAY’s dry-dock complete, TIMCA should leave the Irish Sea at the end of this weekend.
Investing further in operations at Birkenhead
With the future of the route front of mind, the company is also investing further in its port operations at Birkenhead to better serve freight customers. Stena Line recently broke ground on a project to significantly increase parking for freight vehicles with plans for 200 additional bays. This follows the announcement last year that the ferry operator had signed an agreement with Peel Ports to operate at the terminal in Birkenhead until the year 2100.
Paul Grant, Trade Director Irish Sea, Stena Line said,
“Since we announced our plans to launch our Dublin-Liverpool service in December, we have been searching for a long-term freight only ship solution, and we’re delighted to have secured the BORE SONG to serve on the route until at least the end of the year.
“The extra capacity offered by BORE SONG will be welcomed by the market. The service has had a strong start and we anticipate further growth in the coming months. Coupled with the expansion of our port operations in Birkenhead and our long-term agreement with Peel Ports, we’re investing significantly in the future of our seventh service across the Irish Sea.”
Stena Line Press Release 22 March 2024
Dry dock for Stena Horizon
The vessel operating the route since it opened on 15 February, STENA HORIZON, is due to dry dock at Falmouth from 23 March. Her place will be taken by STENA NORDICA until around 7 April, according to Stena Line’s live freight timetable.
It is anticipated the STENA HORIZON may then return to her usual route from Rosslare to Cherbourg while STENA NORDICA remains on the Dublin to Liverpool route until the arrival of BORE SONG around the middle of April. This should then allow STENA NORDICA to return to her ‘home’ route of Rosslare to Fishguard, thus enabling STENA EUROPE to leave the Stena Line fleet again.
The future of the STENA EUROPE is currently unclear, but industry information suggests a summer charter by Stena RoRo to Southern Europe. The vessel spent a brief period on the Algeciras to Tanger Med ferry route for now-defunct operator Intershipping last summer.
