Business

Irish Sea ferry company invests £88m in Warrenpoint Port route

Seatruck Ferries CEO, Alistair Eagles joins Clare Guinness, CEO, Warrenpoint Port to announce a £88 million (€100m) investment to increase capacity on the Warrenpoint to Heysham route
Seatruck Ferries CEO, Alistair Eagles joins Clare Guinness, CEO, Warrenpoint Port to announce a £88 million (€100m) investment to increase capacity on the Warrenpoint to Heysham route Seatruck Ferries CEO, Alistair Eagles joins Clare Guinness, CEO, Warrenpoint Port to announce a £88 million (€100m) investment to increase capacity on the Warrenpoint to Heysham route

AN Irish Sea freight specialist is to make a £88 million (€100m) investment in one of its services at Warrenpoint Port.

Seatruck Ferries is to increase capacity on its Warrenpoint to Heysham route by 30 per cent, deploying two larger freight ferries later this summer in response to growing demand.

The investment will allow the ferry company, which has operated at Warrenpoint since 1996, to carry an additional 30,000 trailers each year on the popular Irish Sea crossing. The move will see the four-deck Seatruck Precision and Seatruck Performance replace the current three-deck vessels and operate an 11-time weekly service between the ports.

Chief executive of Warrenpoint Port, Clare Guinness welcomed the multi-million pound investment.

“This is a significant investment by Seatruck Ferries and is a clear commitment to Warrenpoint Port and the wider Newry, Mourne and Down district, which will directly benefit from the increase in trade," she said.

“Our recently launched Masterplan outlined our vision for the development of the Port for benefit of the wider economy and community. Part of that strategy is to grow freight ferry volumes and this welcome announcement will assist the Port in realising that vision. It also makes all the more pressing, the need for increased space at the Port which must also be supported by key infrastructure projects such as the South Relief Road.”

Chief executive of Seatruck Ferries, Alistair Eagles said whatever the outcome of the Brexit land border negotiations, Warrenpoint will remain a "cornerstone" of the company's operations.

“I clearly remember watching the very first Seatruck sailing from Warrenpoint in 1996. Even back then we had a very strong belief in our business model, our service and our future strategy."

“Adding larger ships to the Warrenpoint route is the next logical step for Seatruck and I have no doubt that it will be very popular providing more unaccompanied trailer space to our growing customer base, as the industry seeks solutions to the ongoing driver shortage," he added.