Stena Line improving service in southern Baltic Sea

Stena Line improving service in southern Baltic Sea Stena Line is making a major improvement to its service in the southern Baltic sea by introducing two vessels, one on the Trelleborg-Travemünde route and one on the Karlskrona-Gdynia route. "This investment in the southern Baltic Sea is part of our strategy of developing our European network," says Bo Severed, Stena Line's CEO. "The two vessels strengthen our position as one of the leading ferry operators in Europe." The Svealand will now join the ferry Götaland on Scandlines ABs Trelleborg-Travemünde route. The ferry is a RoPax vessel with a load capacity of 2,300 lane metres and room for over 300 passengers. The route is primarily for freight transport. Doubling the frequency and raising capacity means a significant improvement for customers. The Svealand is being time chartered from the Visentini Group of Italy, and will enter service at the middle of July. Greater freight capacity Another vessel is also being introduced onto the Karlskrona-Gdynia route. The Stena Traveller will enter service in December/January and will increase the route's freight capacity by 1,800 lane metres. The Stena Traveller is a modern RoPax-ferry with over 200 beds, new cabins and room for 250 passengers. In recent years the number of passengers on this route has risen from 180,000 to 270,000, while demand for freight transport has increased by 12-17% per year. "The market wants extra capacity and we know that southern Sweden is, and will remain, an area of growth," says Bo Severed. "It is very pleasing that we can introduce two excellent vessels that are adapted to meet both our customers' and our own demands." Last year Stena Line and Scandlines AB carried over 13.5 million passengers, 2.5 million cars and around one million freight units. Stena Line AB Göteborg, Sweden 1 June 2001 For further information, please contact Bo Severed, CEO, Stena Line +46 31 85 83 19 or + 46 704-85 83 19, or Joakim Kenndal, Communication Director, Stena Line + 46 31 85 81 80 or + 46 704 85 85 55. Facts Svealand Vessel class RoPax No. of passengers 366 including crew No. of cars 164 Freight capacity 2 300 lane metres (172 trailers) Cabins 70 + 72 pullman seats Length 186 m Width 25 m Speed 23 knots Stena Traveller Vessel class RoPax No. of passengers 250 Freight capacity 1 800 lane metres Cabins 83 and 204 beds Length 154 m Width 24 m Speed 18 knots Volumes, 2000 Trelleborg-Travemünde, Scandlines AB No. of passengers 30 000 No. of cars - Freight units 31 800 Karlskrona-Gdynia, Stena Line No. of passengers 267 000 No. of cars 36 000 Freight units 17 000 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/06/01/20010601BIT00770/bit0002.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/06/01/20010601BIT00770/bit0002.pdf