According to a Spanish news report that was shared by the official Suardiaz LinkedIn page, the vessel has been chartered for a minimum of one year.
The new route will aid the logistics of the Stellantis factories in Vigo and Ellesmere Port, the latter of which produces electric vehicles for Vauxhall, Opel, Peugeot and Citroën. A substantial percentage of the components used to make these cars comes from the Stellantis plant in Vigo.
Later this year, there are plans to run a second vessel on the route to double the frequency of the service. That would see as many as 14,700 trailers transported on the route annually.
The news follows the March announcement from Suardiaz and Peel Ports Group regarding plans for a new £10m Green Automotive Hub in Merseyside.
Both companies said that the sailings would begin as soon as the required infrastructure was completed. Given that the new Ro-Ro ship has already made its maiden journey on the route, this now appears to be the case.
According to Peel Ports, the new route is projected to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 30% and energy consumption by 37%, when compared to road travel.
Photo: Jens Dohrn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons