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Stena to deploy E-flexers to the booming Baltic

[ April 8, 2022   //   ]

Stena Line will launch its next two new E-Flexer vessels on the Karlskrona/Gdynia route in the Baltic Sea during 2022. The first vessel will start operations in July and the second in November. Both were originally planned to be deployed on the route between Swedish Nynäshamn and Latvian Ventspils, but with particular strong freight traffic in Baltic Sea South, Stena Line has decided that the E-Flexers will be best used there for the moment.

The recently lenghtened and modernised Stena Scandia and Stena Baltica will continue to serve the route between Nynäshamn and Ventspils, adding 30% more freight and 70% cabin space boost in capacity.

The E-flexers are part of the company’s ambition to further strengthen its position in the Baltic Sea and grow together with its customers.

Stena Line chief executive Niclas Mårtensson said: “Flexibility and growing with our customers is key for Stena Line, and with the E-Flexers that we are now deploying on the route Karlskrona-Gdynia we are striving to offer a fleet that is as flexible as possible, responding to the needs of our customers.”

Stena says that the E-Flexers are among the most fuel efficient in the world for their size, while also being flexible enough to operate across different routes. They are delivered ready for conversion to battery hybrid operation or to methanol or liquid natural gas (LNG) fuel, when the necessary bunkering infrastructure is in place.

Over the past years, Stena Line has expanded heavily in the Baltic Sea, driven by an increased freight and passenger demand. Besides deploying Stena Scandica and Stena Baltica between Nynäshamn and Ventspils in July 2021 and January 2022 respectively, it has added 40% more freight capacity between Liepāja in Latvia and German Travemünde, by deploying the ro-pax-ferries Stena Livia and Stena Flavia on the route.

It also opened a completely new route between Swedish Nynäshamn and Finnish Hanko on 1 February 2022, served by the vessel Urd. A second vessel (Stena Gothica) will be added at the end of May.

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