At a time when travel companies across the globe are implementing cutbacks, Stena Line is spending millions on the refit and refurbishment of ships across its five Irish Sea routes.

The Stena Caledonia, which operates on the Stranraer-Belfast route, returned to service on Friday following a £1 million refit that took place at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. It’s the last of eight ships which have been given makeovers in the past three months.

Stena Line’s Irish Sea area director, Michael McGrath, believes that the investment reflects the ferry company’s ongoing commitment to improving its fleet and services.

“At Stena Line we are continually investing in our product to exceed customer expectations and give them a pleasurable and comfortable travelling experience,” he said.

“We’ve never been a company to rest on its laurels and this investment in our Irish Sea fleet reflects a desire to continually improve in terms of quality and service reliability.”

“The credit crunch has resulted in more people considering holidays within the British Isles, which is good news for the ferry industry. Therefore it is vitally important that when new customers travel with us we show them how much ferry travel has developed over the years and how pleasurable an experience it can be compared to flying”, Michael added.

Highlights of Stena Line’s makeover programme include a £2M refit and refurbishment of the Stena Nordica superferry, which sails between Holyhead and Dublin Port, £2.1M on the Stena Europe superferry, which operates between Fishguard and Rosslare, and £2M on the Stena Lynx III fastcraft, which sails between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire.