Stena Line, part of Swedish based conglomerate Stena, has reached an agreement to acquire the RoRo vessel Somerset from Luxembourg-based short sea shipping and multimodal operator CLdN.
Subject to closure and transfer, the RoRo vessel would begin operating on the Dublin–Liverpool route for Stena Line in early December. The Somerset has previously operated within Stena Line’s network as a chartered vessel.
Delivery of Somerset is expected later in October and, after a period in dry dock for refurbishment and repainting, the vessel is expected to enter service on the Dublin–Liverpool route in December after being renamed Stena Freighter.
Stena Line currently operates the Rotterdam–Harwich route with two chartered vessels, the Mistral from Godby Shipping and Thuleland from Wallenius SOL. The charter agreements for these vessels will soon expire, and both vessels will be returned to their owners at the end of the year.
The Rotterdam–Harwich route will, however, continue to be served by two vessels, with Stena Scotia and Stena Hibernia being redeployed from the Irish Sea and the Dublin–Liverpool route, where Stena Freighter (Somerset) will replace their service. The freight route between Dublin and Liverpool will return to being served by one vessel instead of two, as has been the case for most of 2026.
The vessel Somerset was built in 1999 at Flender Werft (Germany). She has an overall length of 183.4m, with 2,504 lane meters for cargo.
