Stena Line Redeploying Ship Trio to Boost Route Network

Ferry company Stena Line has announced plans to redeploy three ships on Göteborg-Frederikshavn, Travemünde-Liepaja and Karlskrona-Gdynia routes after summer.

“We are now implementing a strategically important development to further strengthen three of our major transport corridors. Demand for capacity is increasing and we constantly evaluate our business as the market develops,” Niclas Mårtensson, Stena Line’s CEO, commented.

The 2005-built RoPax vessel Hammerodde will be taken into operation on the Göteborg-Frederikshavn route in mid-September, replacing Stena Gothica.

“We will have a product better suited for both our freight customers and passenger’s needs on this route. We will open up for car passengers on Hammerodde which will mean increased capacity on the passenger side. In conjunction with the change, we will also concentrate all traffic to Denmark at Masthuggskajen,” Tony Michaelsen, Trade Director of Region Denmark, said.

Hammerodde was acquired from the Bornholm shipping company Faergen by Stena about a year ago and will switch to a Stena Line name in due course.

Also in mid-September, Stena Gothica, a ship originally built in 1981, will return to its former route Travemünde-Liepaja where it will operate together with its sister ship M/V Urd.

As explained by Erik Thulin, Trade Director in Baltic Sea North, the move comes as the company has witnessed a strong growth on the routes connecting the Baltics with Scandinavia and Germany/West Central Europe.

Stena Gothica replaces the 2000-built Stena Nordica which will be placed on the Karlskrona-Gdynia route in October, after the charter of M/V Gute is over and the ship returns to Gotlandsbolaget.

Karlskrona-Gdynia is a strategically important corridor between Sweden and Poland that has been growing steadily during recent years, according to the company.

Recently, Stena Line also revealed that the first of its new RoPax ferries currently under construction in China is planned to enter service on its Holyhead – Dublin route in early 2020, while the following two are assigned to Liverpool-Belfast.