Keel laying and launch of
STENA E-FLEXER
This past January in the city of Weihai in northern China, two ceremonies were held at the shipyard AVIC. From 2016-2018, Stena RoRo placed orders for a total of eight RoPax E-Flexer model ships from this shipyard, and now it was time to launch the first and lay the keel for the third ship in the series.
The Stena Estrid is the name of the first ship that has now been launched. She will be operated by Stena Line and starting at the beginning of 2020, she will sail between Holyhead and Dublin. Of the total of eight ships, Stena Line will operate five, two of which feature the elongated design.
For the third ship in the series, a keel laying ceremony was held and, following tradition, a few coins were placed on the keel block. This ship has a long term charter agreement with the French shipping company Brittany Ferries, and together with a sister ship, it will operate between Portsmouth in the UK and Bilbao and Santander in Spain. Also, DFDS has signed a long term charter agreement for an E-Flexer, which will be used for traffic in the English Channel.
Stena RoRo is leading the construction in Weihai. CEO Per Westling says: “We are very pleased with the great collaboration with AVIC ship-yard, which includes both the development and the production of the E-Flexer series. From our customers’ side, we have very high demands for customisation and flexibility, which the shipyard has met, bringing high quality to the project in general”.
