FERRY IMPRESSIVE!!!

New images give a first look on board the new Stena Estrid

NEXT month will see the much-anticipated introduction of Stena Line’s newest ferry Stena Estrid on the Holyhead to Dublin route – and the first images have been released to give passengers an idea of what they can expect when they step on board.

Described as one of the most modern ferries in the world, Stena Estrid is the first of five next generation ferries to be completed at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in north-western China and is currently nearing the end of an incredible 10,000 mile sea voyage to its new Irish Sea home.

Apart from shipyard staff, Stena Line management and the much-reduced crew currently on board, nobody has seen what the new vessel looks like inside – until now, with Stena Line releasing more than a dozen virtual images of how the ship will look when she starts service in January.

Amongst the amazing ‘first look’ images are the ship’s spectacular Sky Bar (by day and by night), cabin interiors (including deluxe cabin with balcony access), Happy World children’s play area, Hygge reclining lounge, Stena Plus lounge, movie lounge and Taste Restaurant.

We’ve also been given a glimpse of the new improved Truckers Lounge, Living Room Lounge, onboard shop and Guest Services area.

As the images show, passengers travelling between Holyhead and Dublin are in for a real treat, as Stena Line’s Travel Commercial Manager (Irish Sea South) Diane Poole OBE explains:

“At Stena Line, we never stand still and are always looking at ways to improve our service for travel and freight customers – which is reflected by continued investment in our routes and fleet,” said Diane.

"The perfect example of this is, of course, the introduction in January of our newest ferry Stena Estrid on the Holyhead to Dublin route. The ship’s Captain and crew have been blown away by the ship which we believe will again raise the bar for ferry travel in terms of comfort, service, facilities, technology and sustainability.

“Hopefully our new visuals will give customers an exciting sneak preview of what to expect in terms of the excellent onboard facilities – including our spectacular Sky Bar with superb views, two movie lounges, two Happy World kids’ play areas, deluxe cabins with balcony access, a new Hygge reclining lounge, more spacious passenger areas, a bigger restaurant, an enhanced Stena Shopping experience, and of course our ever popular Stena Plus lounge… the list goes on!

“All delivered of course by our outstanding crew, who really go the extra mile every day to make sure that our customers have the best possible travel experience.”

Part of a multi-million-pound investment in the region, Estrid is the first of three new next generation ferries that will operate on the Irish Sea, with two more due on the Belfast to Liverpool route in spring 2020 and early 2021.

The new Stena Line ships will be amongst the most advanced vessels in operation and larger than today’s standard RoPax vessels (*details below).

At 215 metres in length, Stena Estrid will provide freight capacity of 3,100 lane meters, meaning a 50 per cent increase in freight tonnage, and the space to carry 120 cars and 1,000 passengers and crew.

The introduction in 2020/21 of sister ships Stena Edda and Stena Embla will increase freight capacity on the Belfast to Liverpool route by 20 per cent.

The dropbox link below contains a selection of still images, while I’ve also included a link to a 3D walkthrough that would be perfect for online use (simply swipe left or right and tap the circles to be transported to a different part of the ship).

Still images: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qtpl05cxym8z8sa/AAB8uWfp0B_WuTtFURw94HLAa?dl=0

3D walkthrough (look for the little circles to take you to new areas of the ship): https://theviewer.co/share/ola.frodell@gmail.com/46cf598d-d54f-4b17-a5ae-efae85205173?linkType=ShareLink

STENA ESTRID FAST-FACTS

The name Estrid is connected to Stena Line’s Scandinavian heritage. It is an Old Norse eastern-Nordic version of the name Astrid. Estrid is commonly found on old runestones and means ‘divinely beautiful’.

Stena Line is the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest fleet and the widest choice of routes between Ireland and Britain including Holyhead to Dublin, Fishguard to Rosslare, Cairnryan to Belfast, and the Liverpool to Belfast and Heysham routes, a total of 232 weekly sailing options. Stena Line also offers a direct service from Rosslare to Cherbourg with three return crossings a week.

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MEDIA ENQUIRIES: For further information, please contact Lawrence Duffy or Michael Rafferty of Duffy Rafferty Communications om +44 (0) 28 9073 0880 or info@duffyrafferty.com OR Simon Palmer at Stena Line on +353 868858789 or simon.palmer@stenaline.com.

About Stena Line:

Stena Line is one of Europe's leading ferry companies with 37 vessels and 20 routes in Northern Europe. Stena Line is an important part of the European logistics network and develops new intermodal freight solutions by combining transport by rail, road and sea. Stena Line also plays an important role for tourism in Europe with its extensive passenger operations. The company is family-owned, was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Gothenburg. Stena Line is part of the Stena AB Group, which has about 16 000 employees and an annual turnover of around 36,5 billion SEK. For more information please visitwww.stenaline.com.