SEVEN SHIPS IN PRODUCTION – AT THE SAME TIME!
After a very careful selection process, in 2016 Stena RoRo placed the first order for now a total of nine ships in the Stena E-Flexer RoPax class at the Chinese shipyard CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard in northeast China. All ships are based on the same hull, but have been adapted to different customers' wishes and needs.
At present, all of seven ships are in various stages of production. The first ship, the Stena Estrid, was delivered on November 15, and the last one under the current order is scheduled for completion in March of 2023.
Of the nine ships ordered, five will be delivered to Stena Line, three to Brittany Ferries and one to DFDS. The hull design, which is the same for all, has a hydrodynamically optimal design for the least possible water resistance. Also common to all vessels is the extensive use of digital functions and the latest environmental and energy-saving technology. The vessels are tailored to customer needs. This entails among other things, that one is equipped with scrubbers, two are equipped for LNG operations, one has ice class 1A and two are to be delivered in an extended version. The DFDS vessel will be used as a day ferry on the Dover-Calais line and thus has no passenger cabins. For Brittany Ferries, longer voyages apply and the vessels are equipped with several cabins, sun decks and more restaurants.
Stena RoRo's team in front of Stena Estrid at the shipyard in China.
“It’s the flexible design that enables considerable opportunities for customization, which is also what distinguishes the E-Flexer solution,” explains Magnus Lander, the project manager for Stena RoRo and who is on site in China at least one week each month. “This flexibility also entails several requirements regarding shipyard customization. As the project manager, much of what I do involves communications between Stena RoRo and the shipyard so that we actually get what we’ve ordered.”
“We enjoy excellent collaboration with the CMI shipyard, both in terms of development and production,” says Per Westling, CEO for Stena RoRo. “The vessels are characterized by very high standards in terms of technology and environmental performance, and we are very pleased with CMI’s performance in attaining the highest quality.”
On November 15, a ceremony was held at the CMI shipyard to mark the transfer of the Stena Estrid to Stena Line. Along with her sister ships the Stena Edda and the Stena Embla, she will provide service for Stena Line’s operations on the Irish Sea.
PICTURE AT THE TOP
Magnus Lander, Project Manager and Staffan Stenfelt, Newbuilding Manager in a gantry crane 60 metres above ground. If you look closely you can see five vessels in the photo: Stena Estrid (behind the mountain), Cote D ’Opale (blue section at the quay), Stena Edda (in the dock), Stena Embla (in the dock) and Galicia (at the far end of the dock).
