Stena Line's newest ferry sets out on journey from China shipyard to Holyhead

STENA Line's newest ferry Stena Estrid  has departed the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in North Western China, bound for its new home on the Irish Sea, between Britain and Ireland. Stena Estrid is the 1st of 5 next generation Stena Line RoPax vessels to be completed at the shipyard and is now en route to Wales from where it will start service in January on the Holyhead to Dublin route.

Manned by a much reduced crew of 27, with no passengers on board, the ship will travel on a journey of well over 10,000 miles, taking just over  1 month and making a number of stops on the way.

The 1st stage of the voyage is a week long 2,657 nautical miles trip across the South China and then East China Sea to Singapore, travelling at an economical speed of 17 knots which, uniquely to Estrid and her sister ships, can be achieved by running just  1 of its 12600kW main engines, thus minimising fuel consumption.

Having refuelled and stocked up on fresh provisions, Estrid will then proceed at a speed of 15 knots through the Malacca Straits to Galle in Sri Lanka, before crossing the Indian Ocean and making its way to the Suez Canal.

Once through the Suez Canal, the ship will head west across the Mediterranean Sea, continuing at 15 knots until it reaches Gibraltar where it will stop for more fuel and provisions, and most importantly to welcome onboard more crew members who will undertake familiarisation and training during the final leg of Stena Estrid 's journey, up through the Atlantic Ocean, across the Bay of Biscay and finally to the Welsh port of Holyhead, where, all being well, it is expected to arrive just before or after Christmas.
Once in Holyhead, final preparations will begin to get Estrid ready to start service on the route in mid-January  2020.

Speaking from the ship's bridge, shortly after departure, Senior Master Matthew Lynch said:- "After 6 years of planning and construction, we are so excited to be finally on board Stena Estrid  and departing China on our way home to Britain. At this precise moment, we've only travelled approximately 70 miles, but it was an interesting start to our journey as we passed a fleet of over 100 Chinese fishing vessels! We obviously have a very long way to go but we're really looking forward to it and to meeting with our colleagues in Gibraltar, before embarking the final leg of our journey to Holyhead."

At 215 metres in length, Stena Estrid  will provide freight capacity of 3,100 lane meters, meaning a 50% increase in freight tonnage, and the space to carry 120 cars and 1,000 passengers and crew.

A further 2 of the new ferries are also destined for the Irish Sea with Stena Edda expected to commence operations from Liverpool to Belfast next spring, and a 3rd vessel Stena Embla to be introduced on the same route in early 2021.

The introduction of these 2 ships will increase freight capacity on the Liverpool to Belfast route by 20%.

Stena Estrid Fast Facts

The name Estrid is connected to Stena Line's Scandinavian heritage. It is an Old Norse Eastern Nordic version of the name Astrid. Estrid is commonly found on old runestones and means:- 'divinely beautiful.'

Stena Line is the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest fleet and the widest choice of routes between Britain and Ireland including Holyhead to Dublin, Fishguard to Rosslare, Cairnryan to Belfast, Liverpool to Belfast, and Heysham to Belfast routes, a total of 232 weekly sailing options. Stena Line also offers a direct service between Rosslare to Cherbourg with three return crossings a week.

3 'megamax' quayside cranes sailed up the River Mersey, on Monday, 2 December 2019, destined for the Liverpool2 container terminal, completing the final stage of their voyage from China. The cranes are part of work on the second phase of the Liverpool2 project to provide additional capacity for growing volumes of cargo.

Their arrival follows Peel Ports announcing a record breaking month for its container operations at the Port of Liverpool. Quayside and landside throughput in October exceeded all previous figures on record with year on year growth of 12%.

Mark Whitworth, Chief Executive Officer of Peel Ports, said:- "An increasing number of businesses are understanding that it makes more sense to ship products closer to their end destinations. The investment we've made in these cranes and elsewhere at the port is crucial to providing us with the capacity to meet growing demand, especially with Liverpool handling record container volumes in October 2019."

The cranes arrived on the ZH25 transporter vessel and are now alongside the berth at the South of the Liverpool2 terminal ready for offloading. They originally set off from Shanghai, on 15 September 2019, passing South East Asia, India, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, via the Cape of Good Hope en route to Liverpool in a journey of over 30,000km (18,000m, 16,400nm).

The super structures were produced by Chinese company, Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC), the largest heavy duty equipment manufacturer in the world, as part of a contract with Peel Ports worth over ₤100m. A total of 8 ship to shore megamax cranes and 22 cantilever rail mounted gantry cranes are being supplied to Peel Ports.

Each crane measures 92 metres high to the top of the frame, approximately the same as Liverpool's iconic Liver building, and 132 metres high when the boom is raised. Each crane weighs around 1600 tonnes.

The cranes can operate at speeds more than 30 moves per hour and facilitate 1,500 moves in each tidal window. They are capable of twin pick and outreach of 24 containers up to 10 high on deck, and safe working loads of up to 85 tonnes. They can operate in wind speeds of up to 55 miles per hour (88kmph).

Peel Ports recently entered into an agreement with global terminal business, Terminal Investment Limited Sarl (TiL). The proposed joint venture involves the development of the Liverpool2 container terminal and will enable Peel Ports to accelerate its ambitious growth plans.