Ste­na Line lays the keel for Ste­na Futu­ra – the first of its New­Max ships

On Fri­day 28 June, the keel lay­ing cerem­o­ny of the first of the two all-new New­Max hybrid ves­sels took place in Chi­na Mer­chants Jin­ling Shi­py­ard in Wei­Hai, Chi­na. Ste­na Futu­ra, the cho­sen name for this ship, is one of two New­Max hybrid ves­sels that will play a key role in Ste­na Line’s jour­ney to sus­tainable fuel as they will both be able to ope­ra­te on metha­nol fuel.

The­se ves­sels will signi­fi­cant­ly enhan­ce capa­ci­ty on the Belfast-Heysham rou­te on the Irish Sea. Bes­i­des being able to run on metha­nol, a prio­ri­ty during con­s­truc­tion of the ves­sels will be to pro­vi­de built-in tech­no­lo­gies that can take advan­ta­ge of both bat­tery pro­pul­si­on and shore power, whe­re this is available.

“We are dedi­ca­ted to taking respon­si­bi­li­ty and to be part of the solu­ti­on to cli­ma­te chan­ge. Inves­t­ing in new ships, pre­pared to run on alter­na­ti­ve fuels as well as elec­tri­ci­ty, is an important part of our stra­tegy of moving towards new sus­tainable fuels and set­ting new indus­try stan­dards,” says Nic­las Mår­ten­sson, CEO Ste­na Line.

Keel-laying is one of the mile­sto­nes in the con­s­truc­tion of a ship and the for­mal reco­gni­ti­on of the start of a ship’s con­s­truc­tion. The keel-laying of the second of the two New­Max ves­sels is plan­ned for this fall and the name of that ves­sel is yet to be reve­a­led. The New­Max hybrid ves­sels will be laun­ched on the Irish Sea in 2025.