China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyard Secures Order for 2 Hybrid Ro-Pax Vessels

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 24, Stena RoRo announced that, on behalf of Stena Line, it has placed an order with China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyard for 2 next-generation E-Flexer 2.0 Ro-Pax vessels, with options for an additional 2 vessels. The newbuildings are scheduled to enter service in 2030 on the Gothenburg, Sweden—Frederikshavn, Denmark route, replacing the Stena Danica and Stena Jutlandica currently operating on that route.

The two vessels ordered are 214.5 meters long and 27.8 meters wide, each capable of carrying 1,500 passengers, with a ro-ro freight capacity of 2,750 lane meters, featuring 3 vehicle decks, of which 1 is for passenger cars and 2 are for freight vehicles, and equipped with 132 passenger and crew cabins. Both vessels are positioned as day Ro-Pax vessels, and in addition to the Gothenburg—Frederikshavn route, their hull design also retains the capability to be deployed on other Stena Line day routes.

The E-Flexer 2.0 adopts a diesel-electric propulsion system, with onboard space reserved for battery installation of up to 85 MWh, and conditions for future all-electric operation reserved at the design stage. Once the relevant charging infrastructure is available at ports, the newbuildings can further transition to a full battery-powered mode. Compared with the previous E-Flexer series, this batch of vessels directly incorporates battery capacity and all-electric operating capability into the design of the next-generation platform.

China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyard has previously built 15 E-Flexer series vessels for the Stena group. Public information shows that the series has now accumulated 17 projects in total, and the vessels ordered this time belong to the new-generation E-Flexer 2.0 model. The two parties had previously signed a letter of intent for these 2 vessels in October 2025, and this formal order advances the project from the preliminary intent stage to the newbuilding contract implementation stage.

After entering service, the newbuildings will undertake passenger and ro-ro freight transport tasks between Gothenburg and Frederikshavn. Stena Line also plans to relocate its Gothenburg-related operations to the new Arendal port area, which is planned to include rail connection facilities, and the added vessel freight capacity will complement the port's subsequent multimodal transport arrangements.