Stena Line commences direct ferry route from Ireland to France
Following its recent acquisition of the Rosslare-Cherbourg ferry service from Celtic Link, leading ferry company Stena Line has started operating the service under its ownership. This is a historic milestone for Stena Line as it represents the company’s first direct ferry link between Ireland and the Continent.
The new Stena Line route will operate an all year round service with 3 weekly sailings from Rosslare and Cherbourg accommodating up to 1 000 passengers, 200 cars and 120 freight units per sailing. Ian Davies, Stena Line’s route manager (Irish Sea South) said: “Whilst today is an historic day for Stena Line it’s also a very exciting one as we integrate an important economic and leisure connection from Ireland to the Continent into our business. We believe the timing is opportune for this development as improving economic data in Ireland and Europe points to the potential for increased traffic on this important commercial link between both regions.
Ian added: “As one of the leading ferry companies in the world, we believe we can help the Rosslare-Cherbourg route realise its full potential by bringing our experience, business practices and customer service standards to the service. Since the announcement of the acquisition (Feb 26th) our teams have been busy integrating the new service into Stena Line’s day to day business operations and I am delighted that we are in a position today (1st April) to officially operate the service.”
Stena Line will operate the 28 000 tonne MV Stena Horizon (formerly the MV Celtic Horizon) on the route offering 3 weekly sailings from Rosslare at 21.30 on Tuesday and Thursday with a Saturday sailing at 16.00. From Cherbourg the schedule is 21.00 on Wednesday and Friday with a Sunday sailing at 16.00 with a journey time of approx 17 hrs.
John Lynch, General Manager Rosslare Europort commented: “We are delighted to have a company of the size and experience of Stena Line take over the Rosslare-Cherbourg service. They have an enviable reputation in the ferry industry for developing business opportunities across their freight and leisure travel business and we are looking forward to working with them to help develop the route in the months and years ahead. There has been a lot of positive feedback from customers of the port since Stena Line confirmed it was acquiring the route and there is a sense of collective relief that the future of the route has now been safeguarded in the hands of a highly respected global ferry business.”
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NOTE TO EDITOR: For further information please contact Lawrence Duffy of Duffy Rafferty Communications on Belfast + 44 (0) 28 9073 0880 or lawrence@duffyrafferty.com
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