Stena Line Thinks big With new Ships for its Scotland-Northern Ireland Service

By Stena Line, PRNE
Wednesday, March 9, 2011

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, March 10, 2011 - Stena Line has confirmed the addition of two new Superfast ferries on its
service between Scotland and Northern Ireland in Autumn 2011 to coincide with
the opening of its new GBP80m Loch Ryan Port at Cairnryan.

Sister ships Superfast VII and Superfast VIII will replace the HSS Stena
Voyager, Stena Caledonia and Stena Navigator, which currently operate on the
ferry crossings (www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/ferries-to-ireland/)
between the two countries.

The Superfast ferries, the biggest ships ever to operate on the
Scotland-Northern Ireland route, will cater for both passenger and freight
traffic. Each ship can carry up to 1,200 passengers, around 660 cars or 110
freight vehicles, and will be able to complete the journey between Scotland
and the heart of Belfast in 2 hours, 15 minutes.

For freight customers, the ships will be altered to allow for extra deck
height to accommodate the trend for higher, more efficient freight units.

They each have a gross tonnage of 30,285 and are capable of travelling at
27 knots. The ships will be leased from Tallink, the Baltic Sea shipping
group.

The introduction of the new ships to the route later this year will
coincide with the opening of Stena Line's purpose built GBP80M port facility
at Loch Ryan Port, Cairnryan in Scotland, which will replace its current
ferry terminal (www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/ferries-to-ireland/) at
Stranraer.

Gunnar Blomdahl, Managing Director of Stena Line said: "This investment
is another stage in Stena Line's ongoing multi million pound investment
program which aims to take the Stena Line fleet to the next level. I'm
convinced that the changes on this route will be very positive for our
customers between Scotland and Northern Ireland."

Before the ships are deployed on the route, both vessels will be given
extensive refits to ensure that they deliver a great experience with new
attractive onboard concepts for restaurants and public areas, as well as
providing complete flexibility for freight operators. The upgrades will
include the provision of extra deck height to cater for the trend towards
higher vehicles and hauliers' increased use of double-deck freight units.

Paul Grant, Route Director for Stena Line Scotland-Northern Ireland said:
"The new ships will be the largest vessels ever to operate between Scotland
and Northern Ireland and will provide Stena Line with increased operational
efficiency by replacing three ships with two. The unique combination of
speed, capacity, increased deck height, great onboard facilities and modern
ports at each end of the journey will greatly enhance the ferry travel
experience for all our customers. We have a commitment at Stena Line to do
travel differently; we call it 'Making Good Time'. Modern travel doesn't have
to be stressful, it can also be fun and enjoyable."

About Stena Line:

Stena Line is the market leader on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest
fleet and the widest choice of routes between Britain and Ireland, including
the Stranraer to Belfast, Holyhead to Dublin Port (
www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/routes/holyhead-dublin/), Holyhead to Dun
Laoghaire (www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/routes/holyhead-dun-laoghaire/)
and Fishguard to Rosslare (
www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/routes/fishguard-rosslare/). The company
carries over two million passengers on its Irish Sea routes each year, more
than its rival ferry operators combined.

    PR contact:
    Fiona Brown,
    Duffy Rafferty Communications
    18 Heron Road,
    Belfast,
    BT3 9LE
    +44(0)28-9073-0880

www.stenaline.co.uk

PR contact: Fiona Brown, Duffy Rafferty Communications, 18 Heron Road, Belfast, BT3 9LE, +44(0)28-9073-0880

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