Swedish ferry firm Stena Line says it will be reintroducing an Irish Sea route between the River Mersey and Dublin in 2024. Tony McDonough reports

Stena Line is to reintroduce its Birkenhead to Dublin ferry service early in 2024.

In the mid-2010s the Swedish ferry firm axed its daily Liverpool to Dublin service from the 12 Quays terminal in Wirral. It currently operates a twice-daily return service to Belfast using the vessels Stena Edda and Stena Embla.

In August LBN revealed that P&O Ferries is to axe its Liverpool to Dublin ferry route by the end of 2023. This sparked a discussion within Stena about whether it decided to reinstate what is a popular route, particularly for freight.

Stena will begin its Birkenhead to Dublin service in mid-February 2024. It will initially operate with one vessel departing Dublin early in the morning and making the return journey from Birkenhead in the evening.

Stena Line already operates from Dublin Port and Birkenhead, and this new service will complement the existing routes from Dublin to Holyhead and Belfast to Liverpool. The company is currently assessing ship deployment options for the service.

Paul Grant, Trade Director (Irish Sea), Stena Line said: “The launch of our new freight service between Dublin and Birkenhead secures an important trade route on the UK/Ireland corridor and further strengthens our position on the Irish Sea.

“Stena Line will now operate two routes out of both Dublin Port and Birkenhead establishing key logistics hubs connecting freight flows across the Irish Sea and creating efficiencies for port users.”

This will be Stena Line’s seventh route in the Irish Sea region in addition to Belfast – Cairnryan, Belfast – Heysham, Belfast – Liverpool, Dublin – Holyhead, Rosslare – Fishguard and Rosslare – Cherbourg.

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“This route further demonstrates our commitment to our customers in the region and we are confident it will be a success offering direct access to the UK, Ireland and into Europe,” Mr Grant added.

Stena Line is one of Europe’s leading ferry companies transporting 6.5m passengers with 39 vessels across 17 routes in Northern Europe operating 27,000 sailings each year.