Back to SSG 24

Stena Trader:
Best possible alternative to a bridge

The Stena Trader is the first vessel in Stena’s new ro-pax quartet, the Seabridger class, designed to be the best possible alternative to a bridge for both passengers and freight trade.

Delivered to Stena RoRo this summer after having her hull built at Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in St Petersburg and being fitted out at Fosen Mek. Verksteder in Norway, the Stena Trader is now in service on the Hoek van Holland–Killingholme line for Stena Line.

Seabridger class-sister number two will be built according to the same principle with the Norwegians doing the final work, while the last two sisters will be completed at Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in St Petersburg.

300 passengers share 100 cabins and 30 Pullman seats while the crew have 35 single bed cabins at their disposal.

There is a bar, a free flow restaurant, a shop and a cinema to pass the time during the eight-hour trips the Seabridger class is designed to serve. 135 prefabricated bathrooms have been installed onboard the vessel. Two life rafts, one 60-person life boat, one combined life and rescue boat and one MOB boat provide for the security of crew and passengers. It has been estimated that two thirds of the passengers will be lorry and trailer drivers. Therefore the vessel design focuses on cargo, putting “ro” clearly before “pax” in ro-pax.

	Stena estimates that two thirds of the passengers will be lorry and trailer drivers. Photo: Stena RoRo

Asymmetric stern ramps
A total of 3,100 lane metres with a 3.1 m width is distributed on weather deck (1,420 m), main deck (1,275 m) and the lower holds (415 m). A 13 stern ramp with a three-metre flap accommodates the rolling on and of. The Stena Trader and the sister also built for the Hoek van Holland–
Killingholme line have asymmetrically placed stern ramps to fit in the Hoek van Holland terminal.

The growing demand for container shipments on traditional ro-ro routes has been taken into account when the Stena Trader was designed, as 250 TEUs of containers can be placed on weather deck leaving 2,100 lane metres for rolling cargo.

Service speed
Two MAN B&W diesel main engines, not fitted with catalytic converters, each delivering 10,800 kW give the vessel a service speed of 22 knots at six m draft. The power from the main engines passes two Wärtsilä reduction gears before it reaches two 4,600 m m Wärtsilä Propulsion Lips controllable pitch propellers. Two 1,600 kW bow thrusters from the same company add manoeuvrability to the vessel. Mitsubishi has delivered auxiliary engines and the shaft generator.

Even though she is not fitted with catalytic converters, the Stena Trader is still a Lloyd’s Environmental Protection (EP) class vessel. The Lloyd’s EP consists of modules aiming to attain a level of performance which exceeds international requirements for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and sulphur (SOx) emissions, oil pollution prevention, sewage treatment, hull and anti-fouling systems among other things.

The vessel also has a Swedish/Finnish Ice Class 1A.

//Fredrik Davidsson

Latest update 21-12-2006 14:42

All material © Scandinavian Shipping Gazette.

Scandinavian Shipping Gazette | www.shipgaz.com | info@shipgaz.com | webmaster | Contact us | Cookie information