Stena Line’s newest ferry the Estrid has departed a Chinese shipyard as it heads for Ireland to begin serving the Holyhead to Dublin route.
The Stena Estrid is the first of five next-generation Stena Line RoPax vessels to be completed at the shipyard and is now en route to Wales from where it will start service in January.
The 215 metre long ship, manned by a reduced crew of 27, will complete the 10,000 mile journey which will take over a month before entering service.
Stena Line says that once the ship arrives in Holyhead, final preparations will begin to get Estrid ready to start service on the route in mid-January.
Speaking from the ship’s bridge, shortly after departure, Senior Master Matthew Lynch said: “After six years of planning and construction, we are so excited to be finally on board Stena Estrid and departing China on our way home to Britain.
“At this precise moment, we’ve only travelled approximately 70 miles but it was an interesting start to our journey as we passed a fleet of over 100 Chinese fishing vessels!
"We obviously have a very long way to go but we’re really looking forward to it and to meeting with our colleagues in Gibraltar, before embarking the final leg of our journey to Holyhead."
The ship will be able to carry 120 cars and 1,000 passengers and crew.
