Stena Line has reached an agreement to acquire the RoRo vessel Somerset from CLdN as part of a broader restructuring of its freight network.
Subject to completion and transfer, the vessel is expected to join Stena Line’s Dublin–Liverpool service in early December.
Delivery of Somerset is expected later in October. The vessel will then enter dry dock for refurbishment and repainting before being renamed Stena Freighter.
Somerset previously operated within Stena Line’s network as a chartered vessel.
Dublin–Liverpool service returns to one vessel
Stena Line currently operates the Rotterdam–Harwich route with two chartered vessels: Mistral, owned by Godby Shipping, and Thuleland, owned by Wallenius SOL.
The charter agreements are due to expire, and both ships will be returned to their owners at the end of the year.
Stena Scotia and Stena Hibernia will subsequently be redeployed from the Dublin–Liverpool route to Rotterdam–Harwich. The North Sea connection will continue to operate with two vessels, both owned by Stena Line.
Stena Freighter will replace Stena Scotia and Stena Hibernia on Dublin–Liverpool. As a result, the Irish Sea freight route will return to a single-vessel operation after being served by two ships for most of 2026.
“We are very pleased with the agreement to acquire Somerset. It’s a vessel that fits well within our network and has the flexibility and capacity to operate on several of our routes,” said Magnus Lander, Head of Network & Business Development at Stena Line.
“We know Somerset well from her previous service with us and know what she can deliver. With Somerset, we have an excellent option with significant capacity for the Dublin–Liverpool route,” he added.
Lander said the acquisition would also allow Stena Line to strengthen its position on the Rotterdam–Harwich route by deploying Stena Scotia and Stena Hibernia.
Built by Flender Werft in Germany in 1999, Somerset measures 183.4 metres in length and offers 2,504 lane metres of freight capacity.
