By P谩draig Byrne
The return of the Stena Vision onto the route earlier this year was heralded as a major positive and a step in the right direction, however, today the Swedish owned company announced that they would be withdrawing the route entirely from September 30.
In a statement issued on Monday, Stena Line said that the decision was taken on foot of a 鈥渟trategic route review, which took place with the intention of strengthening the company鈥檚 investment in the Irish Sea, whilst delivering the most efficient use of the company鈥檚 resources鈥.
Johan Edelman, Trade Director said: 鈥淥ur priority is, as always, the care of our people and customers. We鈥檝e already met with our colleagues and over this period of consultation we will be working with any individual affected to consider all options, including redeployment opportunities. As we work through this change we will continue to support our colleagues at every stage.
鈥淥ur customer service team will be helping customers who have booked travel after September to keep any inconvenience to a minimum.鈥
Stena Line has stated its intention to 鈥渃ontinue to strengthen鈥 its Irish Sea network, pointing to a recent upgrading of infrastructure in Fishguard, as well as terminals in Liverpool and Belfast.
They also revealed the intention of adding two new freight vessels to their Belfast-Heysham route and an additional freight vessel to their Dublin 鈥 Liverpool route.
鈥淚 would like to take this opportunity to personally thank our employees, customers and delivery partners over the past 11 years,鈥 Mr Edelman said. 鈥淥ur Rosslare-Cherbourg service is one that we will always be proud of, and we will continue to deliver the same high-quality service over the coming months.鈥
The final sailing on Stena鈥檚 Rosslare to Cherbourg route will depart Cherbourg on September 29, arriving in Rosslare on September 30.