Routes & Operators
Stena Line to acquire Somerset from CLdN for Dublin–Liverpool freight
Stena Line has agreed to buy the RoRo Somerset from CLdN, rename it Stena Freighter, and put it on Dublin–Liverpool from early December, while redeploying Stena Scotia and Stena Hibernia to Rotterdam–Harwich as charters there end.
Source: Stena Line (opens in a new tab)
Stena Line has reached an agreement to acquire the RoRo vessel Somerset from CLdN. Subject to closure and transfer, the ship is expected to enter service on the Dublin–Liverpool route in early December after delivery later in October and a spell in dry dock for refurbishment and repainting. It will be renamed Stena Freighter. Somerset previously sailed in Stena Line’s network as a chartered vessel.
Built in 1999 at Flender Werft in Germany, the ship is 183.4 metres long and offers 2,504 lane metres of freight capacity.
As part of the same network changes, Stena Line will return the chartered Mistral (Godby Shipping) and Thuleland (Wallenius SOL) on Rotterdam–Harwich when those charters expire at the end of the year. That North Sea freight route will continue with two vessels: Stena Scotia and Stena Hibernia, moving across from the Irish Sea and Dublin–Liverpool, where Stena Freighter will take over. Dublin–Liverpool freight will go back to a one-vessel service after running with two ships for most of 2026.
Magnus Lander, Head of Network & Business Development at Stena Line, said Somerset fits the network and gives significant capacity on Dublin–Liverpool, and that the acquisition lets Stena strengthen Rotterdam–Harwich with its own tonnage.