Stena Line is replacing both its ro-ro ships on the Rotterdam-Harwich route with larger vessels that will increase the capacity on the route by about 20 per cent.
The charter contracts on the current ships, the Capucine and Severine, expire in January 2018. They will be replaced by the MV Misida and MV Misana.
The change coincides with the expected completion of a second berth in Europoort.
Stena trade director Annika Hult said: “We have seen a strong growth in the transport market to the UK over the past several years and we are currently trading at very high utilization on this route. This has been further fuelled by freight volumes arriving to Europoort by train.
“The current rail connections between Poznan, Poland and Europoort, which changed ownership earlier this year, are running very well. We believe that this combination of rail and ro-ro transport will only increase in the future.”
