Stena Line's newest hybrid Ro-Ro sails on delivery voyage to Europe

A new hybrid Ro-Ro vessel ordered by Swedish shipping company Stena Line recently departed China on its delivery voyage to Belfast in the UK.

Stena Futura is the first in a new series of two Ro-Ro vessels to be fitted with hybrid propulsion systems that include multi-fuel engines that can operate on methanol and biofuel. The ships will also feature shore power charging connections.

The vessels each have a length of 147 metres and capacity for up to 2,800 lane metres of freight. An optimised hull form will meanwhile enable each ship to transport more freight per voyage compared to vessels of similar size.

Stena Futura and sister ship Stena Connecta are expected to enhance freight capacity by 40 per cent on the Belfast-Heysham route in response to an increase in customer demand for services between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Construction of the new Ro-Ro was undertaken as China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Weihai.