STENA Line has unveiled a new multi-million pound investment in its Belfast fast ferry operation.
Top executives from the company were in Belfast today (Thursday) to announce details of the plan which will cut 25 minutes off the current HSS crossing time between Belfast and Stranraer.
New state of the art ferry terminals and docking facilities are being built on both sides of the Irish Sea by Swedish owned Stena Line, with the Belfast
facilities scheduled to be in operation by the second quarter of 2007. A new terminal at Cairnryan is due to be operational a few months later.
The Belfast terminal is being built at Victoria Terminal 4 (VT4) - on the seaward side of the NorseMerchant ferry facilities - which will dramatically
cut the distance the HSS has to travel at a reduced speed in Belfast Lough.
The switch of the Lough Ryan terminal from Stranraer to Cairnryan will similarly reduce the slow part of the crossing on the Scottish side of the
north Irish Sea.
When completed the Stena HSS - the world's biggest fast ferry - will take just 1 hr 25 minutes for the trip between Belfast and Cairnryan, and will
reduce the journey time to Glasgow by car to just four hours from Belfast. Speaking at the official announcement at Belfast Harbour Commissioners
offices Stena¹s Area Director Irish Sea, Fredrik Lentz said the Belfast-Stranraer operation had been a"great route for the company."
He said that the company had already spent £120m on the service and would be
spending a further £60m on the new facilities. Route Director Alan Gordon said that the company's commitment to the service
between Belfast and Scotland was running at about £1m a month, and that the new commitment was a lifelong one.
He pointed out that 88 per cent of Stena Line customers would strongly recommend the service to their friends, and this was a key component in the
company's success. He said that the company had competed aggresssively and successfully against
competition from the low cost airlines, and had also had to deal with the current high fuel prices but had done so successfully.