Stena Line will boost the freight capacity on its Liverpool and Heysham routes due to an expected increase in pre-Brexit trade activity. The ferry service will charter the roll-on/roll-off vessel Seatruck Panorama to help increase capacity on its routes connecting Belfast with Liverpool and Heysham.
It is the company’s reaction to what some call a ‘dramatic’ and COVID-19-related drop in freight volumes.This drop has meant that Stena was forced to remove one freight ship from its Belfast hub, resulting in reduced capacity and frequency.
Business-live.co.uk quoted Paul Grant, Stena Line trade director for the Irish Sea,as saying: “Adding a seventh ship to our Belfast operations will help us increase frequency, capacity and give us greater operational flexibility. This extra ship will be capable of operating to Liverpool and Heysham thus ensuring that we can better match demand and the needs of customers. “
"It has been a very challenging time for the freight industry, but we are confident that having additional capacity available on these important trading routes between England and Northern Ireland will help us provide an enhanced sailing schedule for our customers.”
The freight-only ship is expected to start service on September 2, and will make 10 sailings weekly between Belfast and Liverpool/Heysham.