The world’s largest short sea Ro-Ro vessel, owned by Luxembourg-based CLdN, was christened in a ceremony at Dublin Port, on 20 April. With a capacity of 8,000 lane-meters, ‘MV Celine’ represents the next generation of super ferries servicing the Irish Port.
As informed, her arrival is part of the multi-million-euro ABR Project to futureproof Dublin Port. MV Celine would not have been able to call into Dublin Port if development works on three kilometres of berths had not already commenced.
The 235m long ship was constructed in South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Shipyard before being deployed to her homeports of Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. In October 2017, MV Celine made her maiden call into Dublin, providing additional capacity for Continental Europe trade via the ports of Zeebrugge and Rotterdam.
Eamonn O’Reilly, Chief Executive, Dublin Port Company, stated:
It is an honour for Dublin Port to host the christening of MV Celine at such an exciting time for Dublin Port. The addition of new ships and sailings shows the shipping sector’s resilience and ability to adapt to changing customer needs, particularly in response to Brexit. We expect MV Celine will mark the beginning of additional new services to Continental Europe from Dublin Port over the coming years.
A representative of CLdN, said:
Choosing to name CLdN’s first of the next generation of Ro-Ro vessels, MV Celine, in Dublin is testament to CLdN’s belief in our Irish / Continental trade lane and appreciation of the support given over the past decade by Dublin Port Company and our dynamic team in Ireland. CLdN commenced services to Dublin Port in October 2009 and these have grown strongly as the Irish economy recovered to the point today where we offer seven calls weekly from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam.
A second 8,000 lane-metre vessel, ‘MV Delphine’, has been delivered in January 2018, as the company further expands its fleet and operations in Europe.