By
Rebecca Gibson |
Harland & Wolff’s Belfast shipyard has secured a £7 million contract to carry out the bulk of the annual refit and maintenance work on Stena Line’s Irish Sea ferry fleet.
Each year, Stena Line carries out a series of passenger facility upgrades and various scheduled maintenance and engine works on its fleet of 11 ferries on the Irish Sea. At the end of December 2016, Harland & Wolff will start working on the first of nine ferries and will complete work on the final vessel in early May 2017.
“The marine refit sector is a highly competitive market and I’m delighted to confirm that Stena Line has appointed Harland & Wolff to carry out this important operational project,” said Paul Grant, Stena Line’s route manager (Irish Sea North). “Stena Line is committed to supporting the local communities in which it operates and with our expanding operations hub at Belfast Port, having a world-class refit expertise close by is a real benefit. 2016 has been a record year for Stena Line across our car, passenger and freight markets on our Belfast to Cairnryan, Liverpool and Heysham routes and once completed, the refit programme will help us to maintain our market-leading position into 2017.”
Stuart Wilson, general manager of Harland & Wolff’s ship repair division, said: “By docking its Irish Sea fleet with us on an annual basis, Stena Line’s business has become an integral part of our ship repair activities, providing valuable support not just to our company, but also to the local supply chain, who provide specialist and ancillary services as part of the vessel dockings.”
Stena Line is the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, offering 224 weekly sailings between Britain and Ireland.