Stena Line are to boost freight capacity on the important Belfast – Liverpool (Birkenhead) route from Monday 7th of September, with the introduction of Stena Performer (ex Seatruck Performance) to the route. Current freight only vessel Stena Hibernia will transfer to the freight only Belfast – Heysham route in order to replace Stena Performer. The change comes due to the amount of freight traffic continuing to grow from the Stena freight hub in Belfast, to Merseyside.
The Belfast-Birkenhead route has grown from a two ship service to a 3 ship service since Stena purchased the route from DFDS in 2010/11. Up to 3 daily departures are now offered for freight, with up to two daily departures in each directions for freight, cars, and passengers on the Visentini Ro-pax vessels Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey. Stena Performer can accommodate around 600 lane metres more freight than Stena Hibernia, and will continue to operate the same timetable as the ship she replaces.
