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New Seatruck Ferry Sets Sail
30 Jul 2008
Seatruck Ferries, freight only specialists on the Irish Sea route, are about to introduce a major increase in capacity for the link between Heysham and Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland. Seatruck is part of the major shipping consortium Clipper Group.
Four newbuildings are to be delivered by Spanish shipbuilders Astilleros de Huelva over the coming 12 months. Seatruck has now decided that the fourth vessel in the series will also be a 142 m ‘Heysham Max’ ship.
The first of the new ships, offering double the capacity of the existing vessels, will be the ‘Clipper Point’. It will enter service next month, followed by ‘Clipper Pace’ in November and ‘Clipper Pennant’ and ‘Clipper Panorama’, in January and March 2008 respectively.
Seatruck commercial director Alistair Eagles said, ‘Clipper Point will be by far the largest and most powerful ferry to operate from Heysham. Each of the new ships can carry over 120 units. Service speed, at 22 knots, will cut the crossing time from nine hours to 6.5 hours. We have now decided to amend the specification for the fourth of the new vessels, bringing her into line as a Heysham Max vessel, of a size ideal for operations at that port.
‘Furthermore, we are actively considering options for further newbuilding orders with a similar specification or a larger class, with a carrying capacity of 140 units, but also with a 22 knots service speed.’
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