Stena cuts back high-speed ferry service

Stena Line is to reduce its freight-carrying high-speed service between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire to a single round-trip schedule, operating only in high summer. 

The HSS Stena Explorer had been operating two round-trips a day between March and December and is one of the few fast-ferries operating in UK waters capable of carrying freight traffic. 

This year it will run only from 28 June until 5 September, departing Holyhead at 11.50am and Dun Laoghaire at 3.05pm. 

Outside the summer, the route will be operated by the smaller Stena Express, which only carries cars and vans. 

Stena communications manager Eamonn Hewitt said the weak market and high fuel costs were factors in the decision, compounded by the failure to agree fees with Dun Laoghaire port. 

“It’s no secret that we are paying a very substantial €6.7m [US$9.2m] a year, and we have pointed out that if we were to operate into Dublin, the cost would only be about €2m a year.” 

But he said he was hopeful an agreement could be reached soon. 

He believed few freight customers would be inconvenienced by the withdrawal of the high-speed freight service for most of the year. Conventional capacity had been added to the Holyhead-Dublin route, offering four round trips a day, most days of the week, he added. 

Hewitt confirmed that the HSS Stena Voyager would continue to operate two round trips a day between Stranraer and Belfast alongside two conventional ships. 

“A decision on the future of the HSS on the route will be made by the end of the year. We’re also moving ahead with plans to replace Stranraer with a new port at Loch Ryan.”