CONSTRUCTION of the brand new multi-million pound super ferry terminal at Cairnryan has been abandoned.

The terminal was to have been built jointly by Stena Line and P&O Irish Sea, but the project has been scrapped.

Now Stena Line are looking at other options and say they will announce plans for the future of their blue riband ferry service in 'March/April'.

Speculation is that Stena Line is preparing to go back to its original plan - to built its own terminal at the mouth of Loch Ryan.

Stena had intended that the new Cairnryan super-terminal would be ready in about a year's time; but with its new Belfast terminal operational in the next few months, (May), it is likely to be another couple of years before Stena has a similar modern facility on the Scottish side of the Irish Sea.

The company is now looking at other options, front runner of which is building its own modern terminal at the mouth of Loch Ryan, on the north shore of the Loch, at Old House Point.

It's understood the company is currently carrying out exploratory drilling on a proposed new site there.

An alternative would be for Stena to develop new facilities at Stranraer, but this is much less likely as the company wants to cut crossing times and save money by operating closer to the open sea.

At present it takes around 15 minutes for the high speed HSS to travel the length of Loch Ryan at a mandatory reduced speed.

Also, at the Public Inquiry, held to address the concerns of local residents with regard to the Cairnryan super-terminal, Stena said that a Stranraer service would not be viable in the long term.

Still, public representatives and business people in Stranraer are hoping that the present ferry link with Belfast has at least had a stay of execution.

There are also fears for the future of the Glasgow-Stranraer rail link to the town if Stena withdraws from the port - currently the rail timings coincide with ferry sailings.

In 2003 P&O Irish Sea and Stena Line formed a joint venture company, Port of Cairnryan Ltd, to construct new facilities at Cairnryan. This included a new terminal and two additional berths to come on stream towards the end of this year. Planning approval for the scheme was approved last year after a Public Inquiry.

Announcing the decision to axe the joint terminal, a statement from Port of Cairnryan said: "A lot of time and effort has gone into the stages of the planning of the new port, but it has become increasingly obvious that escalating costs mean it is simply no longer viable, and both parties have reached a decision to halt the project."

Alan Gordon, Route Director Stena Line commented: "The Northern Corridor (Belfast-Stranraer) is a very important element in Stena Line's Irish Sea operations.

"Since the decision was taken towards the end of 2007 not to port-share with P&O in Cairnryan, Stena Line has undertaken an extensive feasibility study to review a number of location options for building a new port facility in Loch Ryan.

"The results of that study are due to be available in March/April of this year and in the meantime Stena Line will continue to operate services from its current port location at Stranraer.

"Meanwhile work continues at Stena Line on the provision of a £37m state-of-the-art facility in Belfast Port which is due to become operational in May of this year."

As for P&O Irish Sea, Terry Cairns, P&O Ports Director, said: "We are currently reviewing and evaluating our options for future developments at Cairnryan".