New Ro-Pax vessels under construction in China

Last Friday, a steel cutting ceremony was held at AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China to mark the start of the construction of the first of four 214.5-metre Ro-Pax vessels ordered by Stena.

The vessels have a planned delivery timetable during 2019 and 2020 with Stena having an option on a further four vessels as part of the overall contract.

The vessels will be 50 per cent larger than today’s standard Ro-Pax vessels and this significant investment will see a continuation of Stena Line’s successful Ro-Pax concept which mixes freight and passengers as part of its operational business model.

The vessels will have a capacity of more than 3,000 lane metres in a drive-through configuration, will accommodate approximately 1,000 passengers, and offer a full range of passenger services.

Powered by a pair of V12 four-stroke diesels, each of 12,600kW, the expected service speed is 22 knots. Stena plans to introduce the new vessels onto the Irish Sea.

“The new Ro-Pax vessels will be among the most fuel efficient in the world with approximately 25 per cent lower CO2 emissions per cargo unit than comparable Ro-Pax tonnage,” commented Niclas Mårtensson, CEO of Stena Line, at the ceremony.

“The vessels will run on traditional fuel, but are designed to the class notation ‘gas ready’ and are also prepared for scrubbers as well as catalytic converters, giving us even greater flexibility for the future.”