CLdN’s (Compagnie Luxemburgeoise de navigation SA) vessel m.s. Mazarine was christened and adopted by her Godmother Mrs Mia JANSSENS at a ceremony at Dublin Port. This new Ro/Ro vessel represents an investment of € 48 million, is 195.4 metres in length with a gross tonnage of almost 26,000 tonne. The new ferry, the “M.S. Mazarine” was named at a ceremony attended by over 150 people at Ireland’s largest port. The vessel was named with the customary smashing of a Champagne bottle as ships whistles of ships in port sounded in celebration.
The new, state-of-the-art Roll-on-Roll-off (RoRo) cassette, trailer, car and truck ferry will service the first direct RoRo sailing from Holland and Belgium to Dublin. The christening was led by Father Pádraig Ó Cuill and Reverend William Black in a traditional ceremony for launching ships that dates back for centuries.
Today’s ceremony follows the signing of an agreement last year with CLdN to introduce four new sailings between Dublin Port and the ports of Rotterdam in The Netherlands and Zeebrugge, Belgium which has increased the number of Ro-Ro units handled through Dublin Port. The new agreement also demonstrates the further development of the “Motorways of the Sea”, an EU-wide initiative promoting a modal shift of goods from road to sea and the international trend towards larger, more efficient vessels.
The M.S. Mazarine is one of 6 sister vessels employed by CLdN. With three kilometres of truck lanes, the vessel can carry 360 trucks and double stacked cassettes. The M.S. Mazarine was built by Flensburger Schiffbau Gesellschaft in Germany and has a speed of 18.5 knots.
Speaking at the launch of the vessel and welcoming CLdN’s investment, Mr. Enda Connellan, Chief Executive of Dublin Port Company said: “This significant investment by CLdN is an endorsement of Dublin Port as a key strategic access point to Ireland’s largest market and demonstrates the importance of the strong trade links between Ireland and continental Europe. It also highlights the trend towards larger, more efficient vessels that will require deeper water to service. While Dublin Port Company has itself invested almost €300 million over the past 15 years in infrastructural improvement our customers have also invested significant sums in ships and landside facilities”
CEO of Compagnie Luxemburgeoise de navigation SA, Mr Christian Cigrang, commented, “We are delighted to be expanding our services from Dublin Port. Today’s ceremony marks an and investment of €48 million and demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with a reliable, direct service to and from continental Europe and the heart of Dublin city.”
Date Published: Tuesday 22. of June 2010