November 1 - UK shortsea ferry operator, Seatruck, a division of the Danish shipping giant Clipper Group, is set to receive the second of four new ro-ro vessels to serve its Irish Sea routes including options for rolling project cargo and heavy lift items
Just two months after the launch of Seatruck Progress (pictured below) at the Flensburger shipyard, Denmark, her sister Seatruck Power has been launched.
She will be followed by two further identical sister vessels, the last due for delivery in June 2012.
The 142 m long vessels are 25 m wide and boast a freighting capacity of 2,166 lane metres on four decks and can alsocarry up to 151 trailers.
The four-deck newbuildings will be the biggest ships operating out of Heysham port.
Seatruck's progress on the Irish Sea market is a success story and the company now offers 80 sailings per week on four routes linking strategically placed ports: Liverpool-Dublin, Heysham-Dublin, Heysham-Warrenpoint and Heysham-Larne. Freight volumes doubled in the past two years. Seatruck now has 20 percent of the Irish Sea market, up from 3.7 percent in 2004.
Companies with abnormal loads and OOG cargoes to move across the Irish Sea will be pleased to hear that both thePort of Heysham and Warrenpoint Harbour Authority, have installed new linkspans which helps Seatruck offer services to the abnormal load market with the current maximum weight being 120 tonnes and maximum single axle weight being 14 tonnes. Seatruck is limited to a maximum width of five metres.
