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All change in Dublin as Stena and Seatruck announce new Terminal 5 services

[ December 15, 2023   //   ]

Stena Line and CLdN’s Seatruck Ferries are to launch additional freight services between Dublin and Birkenhead (Liverpool) from 2024.

Stena’s new service will start in mid-February 2024 and will initially operate with one ship departing Dublin early in the morning and making the return journey from Birkenhead in the evening.

The new service will use terminal 5 in Dublin port vacated by P&O Ferries Dublin-Liverpool service which is being withdrawn. It will share the facility with an enhanced Seatruck Ferries’ Dublin-Heysham service which will move there in January 2024. CLdN, which bought Seatruck in September 2022, will add a vessel to its Dublin-Liverpool route providing extra sailings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, bringing the total number of daily departures from three to four in each direction.

Seatruck Ferries’ owner CLdN currently operates direct services from Dublin to Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Santander, while its Seatruck Ferries arm operates the Heysham and Liverpool routes.

All other CLdN services, including the Seatruck Ferries services to and from Liverpool, will continue to operate from Terminal 4.

CLdN is also increasing the size of its Liverpool terminal as part of a new long-term agreement with port operator Peel Ports. The new land area has space for over 300 trailers and is directly linked to the current terminal by a refurbished swing bridge.

In September 2023 Dublin Port Company called for proposals from interested ferry lines to service west coast English or Welsh ports (excluding Dublin-Holyhead) out of Dublin following confirmation that P&O (which operated from Terminal 5 in Dublin Port) would exit the Dublin-Liverpool route by year end.

DPC said that awarding a shared licence to both Stena Line and Seatruck Ferries at Terminal 5 would maximise the port’s existing infrastructure by pushing more truck and container freight through the terminal. The move further supports DPC’s objective of adding capacity where possible, given the ongoing constraints on port lands, with Dublin Port already running close to capacity.

Stena Line already operates from Dublin Port and Birkenhead, as well as from Dublin to Holyhead and Belfast to Liverpool. The company is currently assessing ship options for the service.

This will be Stena Line’s seventh route in the Irish Sea. It also operates Belfast-Cairnryan, Belfast–Heysham, Rosslare–Fishguard and Rosslare–Cherbourg services.

Stena’s Irish Sea trade director, Paul Grant (pictured below), said: “The launch of our new freight service between Dublin and Birkenhead secures an important trade route on the UK/Ireland corridor and further strengthens our position on the Irish Sea. Stena Line will now operate two routes out of both Dublin Port and Birkenhead establishing key logistics hubs, connecting freight flows across the Irish Sea and creating efficiencies for port users.”

Dublin Port Company (DPC) chief executive Barry O’Connell, said: “It’s essential for Ireland’s economy that we have strong availability and competition on direct shipping routes between Dublin Port and the UK. We are pleased to welcome Stena Line’s new Dublin-Birkenhead route which brings choice to the market, and to continue working with Seatruck Ferries and CLDN on growing its Dublin-Heysham service.”

Managing director of Seatruck Ferries, Alistair Eagles, added: “We very much welcome this decision by Dublin Port. CLdN and Seatruck’s unaccompanied freight business on the Irish Sea has been growing steadily over recent years and more than 70% of all Irish Sea ferry freight now moves on an unaccompanied basis.

“The use of both Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 will enable us not only to further increase capacity but also to optimise the efficiency of our operations at the port. We look forward to growing our links with DPC as a stable and reliable partner and to further expanding our offer to customers.”

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