At 7 p.m. today, the newly rebuilt ro-pax ship the DANA
SIRENA will depart from Esbjerg on her maiden voyage,
headed for Harwich. DFDS’ best renowned route for
generations. DFDS has operated a UK service ever since 1875, when
livestock was the main cargo. Agricultural products later
replaced cattle, and today’s main cargo is trailers and
lorries carrying agricultural and industrial products. Officially named at 11 a.m. today, the DANA SIRENA has
recently returned from the Polish shipyard, Rementowa,
following a conversion process to increase her capacity
from about 300 to about 600 passengers, with 196 cabins
providing accommodation. The public areas have been
accordingly expanded and enhanced to meet DFDS’ quality
standards. The ship has three car decks with a capacity of 2,150
lane metres, or 150 trailers. The route is expected to
carry about 100,000 passengers and a freight volume of
400,000 lane metres already in the first year of ro-pax
operations. The service speed of 22.5 knots will shorten the
crossing time by about two hours compared with the DANA
ANGLIA, the passenger ship that operated the route until
the end of 2002. The entry into service of the DANA SIRENA is thus a
milestone in DFDS’ tonnage and route strategy, as the
ro-pax concept not only reduces the average age of the DFDS
fleet but also represents a successful adaptation of the
fleet to modern freight and passenger requirements. The service offers three to four weekly departures in
both directions. Departure from Esbjerg is at 7 p.m., with
arrival in Harwich at 11 a.m. next day. The DANA SIRENA replaces the DANA GLORIA, which has
operated the route since October 2002 and will now be sold
to DFDS’ Lithuanian subsidiary AB Lisco as part of the
fleet renewal strategy and improvement of the ro-pax
concept in the Baltic region. For further information, please contact Ole Frie,
telephone +45 3342 3400, e-mail:ole.frie@dfdstorline.com or Thor Johannesen, telephone 3342 3150
e-mail: thor.johannesen@dfdsseaways.com.
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